SELECTIONS   AND   DOCUMENTS 
IN    ECONOMICS 


EDITED   BY 

WILLIAM  Z.  RIPLEY,  PH.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ECONOMICS,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


SELECTIONS  AND  DOCUMENTS 
IN  ECONOMICS 

Already  published 

TRUSTS,  POOLS  AND  CORPORATIONS 
By  William  Z.  Ripley,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of 
Economics,  Harvard  University 

In  preparation 

SOCIOLOGY  AND  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 
By  Thomas  N.  Carver,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of 
Economics,  Harvard  University 

TAXATION  AND  PUBLIC  FINANCE 
By  Charles  J.  Bullock,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  Economics,  Harvard  University 

ECONOMIC  HIS  TORT  OF  THE  UNITED 
S  TA  TE  S.  Vol.  /,  ijbs-iBbo ;  Vol.  II,  i8bo-igoo 
By  Guy  Stevens  Callender,  Ph.D.,  Professor 
of  Political  Economy,  Yale  University 


TRADE   UNIONISM   AND 
LABOR   PROBLEMS 


EDITED 
WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION 

BY 
JOHN   R.  COMMONS 

PROFESSOR  OF  POLITICAL  ECONOMY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 


GINN  &  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK  .  CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


\J 

- 


GENERAL 


COPYRIGHT,  1905 
BY  JOHN  R.  COMMONS 


ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


55-10 


gf)t 


GINN  &  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  intended  to  do  for  the  study  of  labor  unions  and 
labor  problems  what  Ripley's  "  Trusts,  Pools  and  Corporations  " 
has  done  for  the  study  of  capital  and  its  organization  ;  and  the 
preface  to  Dr.  Ripley's  book  states  the  purpose  of  this  book. 
It  is  "  intended  to  be  more  than  a  mere  collection  of  economic 
reprints,  "  and  is  "planned  for  use  specifically  as  a  text-book  ; 
not  merely  as  a  handy  volume  for  reference,  or  as  a  collection 
of  original  documents.  ...  It  denotes  a  deliberate  attempt  at 
the  application  to  the  teaching  of  economics  of  the  case  system, 
so  long  successful  in  our  law  schools.  With  this  end  in  view, 
each  chapter  is  intended  to  illustrate  a  single,  definite,  typical 
phase  of  the  general  subject.  The  primary  motive  is  to  further 
the  interests  of  sound  economic  teaching,  with  especial  refer- 
ence to  the  study  of  concrete  problems  of  great  public  and 
private  interest.  A  difficulty  in  the  substitution  of  present-day 
social  and  economic  studies  for  the  good  old-fashioned  lin- 
guistic ones,  or  for  the  modern  sciences,  —  a  difficulty  espe- 
cially peculiar  to  descriptive  economics  as  differentiated  from 
economic  theory,  —  has  always  been  to  secure  data  sufficiently 
concrete,  definite,  and  convenient  to  form  a  basis  for  analysis, 
discussion,  and  criticism.  .  .  .  The  first  requisite,  therefore,  for 
the  successful  conduct  of  economic  instruction  in  the  descriptive 
field  is  to  provide  raw  material ;  which  in  discussion,  supple- 
mentary to  the  general  lectures,  may  be  worked  over  in  detail 
in  the  class  room." 

Selected,  as  these  chapters  are,  mainly  from  the  economic 
journals,  it  has  not  always  been  possible  to  restrict  each  chap- 
ter to  a  case  illustrating  a  single  phase  or  topic  of  the  general 
subject.  It  has  therefore  been  necessary  to  furnish  in  the  Intro- 
duction and  the  Index  a  set  of  cross  references  by  which  the  stu- 
dent may  bring  together  the  several  illustrations  of  each  phase. 
In  this  way  it  is  hoped  that  two  objects  may  be  secured :  first, 


iv  PREFACE 

that  of  viewing  each  industry  and  its  labor  conditions  as  a  unit, 
wherein  the  several  topics,  such  as  division  of  labor,  apprentice- 
ship, minimum  wage,  "  closed  shop,"  and  so  forth,  shall  appear 
in  tHeir  relations  to  the  whole ;  and,  second,  that  of  furnishing  the 
data  for  such  general  statements  or  conclusions  regarding  these 
topics  as  will  make  due  allowance  for  the  variety  of  attendant 
circumstances  under  which  they  are  exhibited.  The  latter  is 
properly  the  case  method  of  study,  as  will  be  appreciated  from 
the  two  chapters  devoted  to  the  decisions  of  courts. 

Since  the  volume  is  made  up  of  selected  cases  illustrating  a 
branch  of  political  economy  of  world-wide  variety  and  profound 
importance,  it  is  intended  to  be  looked  upon  as  supplementary 
to  a  treatise  like  Adams  and  Sumner's  "  Labor  Problems,"  or 
to  the  more  general  works  on  political  economy,  or  to  a  lecture 
course.  For  the  general  public  it  makes  available  the  contri- 
butions of  many  original  investigators,  scattered  through  the 
economic  and  trade  journals,  which  otherwise  would  be  re- 
stricted to  those  who  have  access  to  the  great  libraries  of  the 
country. 

I  wish  to  express  my  great  indebtedness  to  Professor  W.  Z. 
Ripley,  the  editor  of  this  series,  for  his  assistance  and  criticisms 
in  the  process  of  making  selections  and  otherwise ;  and  to  the 
authors  of  the  several  papers  for  permission  to  reprint.  It  is 
also  a  privilege  to  be  able  to  acknowledge  the  willing  cooperation 
of  the  editors  of  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  the  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  the  Yale  Review,  the  Economic  Journal, 
the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science,  the  Review  of  Reviews,  the  Columbia  University 
Studies  in  History,  Economics,  and  Public  Law,  the  Engineer- 
ing Magazine,  the  Sibley  Journal  of  Mechanical  Engineering, 
the  Atlanta  University  Press,  the  National  Civic  Federation 
Review,  and  Charities. 

My  colleagues,  Professor  T.  S.  Adams  and  Professor  E.  A. 
Gilmore,  have  given  me  aid  which  I  heartily  appreciate,  and  I 
have  been  fortunate  in  the  assistance  rendered  by  Miss  Helen 
L.  Sumner  of  the  Wisconsin  University  Graduate  School. 

JOHN  R.  COMMONS. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  (Analysis  of  Chapters).    By  J.  R.  Commons     ...      vii 

CHAPTER 

I.     TRADE  AGREEMENTS.    By  J.  R.  Commons i 

II.     THE  MINERS'  UNION:    ITS  BUSINESS   MANAGEMENT.    By 

Frank  Julian  Warne 13 

III.  THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO.    By  J.  R.  Commons    ...  36 

IV.  THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES.    By  J.  R.  Commons  65 
V.     THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE  OF  1900.    By 

Ernest  L.  Bogart 87 

VIt    THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS.    Symposium  .     .  137 
VIlj     DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       .     .     .     .     .  156 
VIII.     STATE  ARBITRATION  AND  THE  MINIMUM  WAGE  IN  AUS- 
TRALASIA.    By  Henry  W.  Macrosty 195 

IX.     LABOR  CONDITIONS  IN  SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACK- 
ING.   By  J.  R.  Commons 222 

X.     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   THE   LINOTYPE.    By  George  E. 

Barnett 250 

XI.     THE  PREMIUM   PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR.    By  F.  S. 

Halsey  and  James  Rowan 274 

XII.     THE  PRINTING  TRADES  AND  THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  IN- 
DUSTRY (Restriction  of  Output).    By  G.  Binney  Dibblee  289 
XIII.     THE    SYSTEM    OF    APPRENTICESHIP    AT    THE    BALDWIN 

LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS.     By  S.  M.  Vauclain 304 

•*XIV.     THE  SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE.    By 

J.  R.  Commons 316 

XV.     SLAVS   IN    COAL    MINING.     By  Frank  Julian  Warne  and 

J.  R.  Commons 336 

XVI.     THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN.    Symposium 349 

,XVII.     WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE.    By  Mabel  Hurd  Willett    371 

V 


VI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII.     WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK.  By  M.B.Hammond  396 
_  XIX.     EMPLOYMENT  OF  GIRLS  IN  THE  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES 

OF  PENNSYLVANIA.    By  Peter  Roberts 423 

XX.     THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH.    By  J.  W.  Sullivan     ....  435 

vrXXI.     HOURS  OF  LABOR.    U.  S.  Industrial  Commission    .     .     .  454 

XXII.     MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION.    By  Sarah  Scovill 

Whittelsey 482 

;  JCXIII.     STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT.  —  DECISIONS  OF 

COURTS 509 

^  XXI V..   THE  BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  THE  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION. 

By  Helen  L.  Sumner 527 

I  XXV.     EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  AND  ACCIDENT  INSURANCE.  By 

Adiia  F.  Weber : — : — : — : — : — TT     !     I     !     ".     !     T  546 

XXVI.     WORKMEN'S    INSURANCE    IN    GERMANY.     By    Norbert 

Pinkus       574 

XXVII.     INSURANCE    AGAINST     UNEMPLOYMENT.     By    William 

Franklin  Willoughby 589 

XXVIII,     PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND  GERMANY.    By  Ernest  L.  Bogart 603 

INDEX 627 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


INTRODUCTION 

Though  organized  for  contest  and  marked  by  a  history  of 
struggle,  the  goal  of  trade  unionism  is  the  trade  agreement.1 
•This  implies  the  equal  organization  of  employers  and  the  set- 
tlement of  a  wage  scale  and  conditions  of  work  through  con- 
ferences of  representatives.  The  trade  agreement  must  be 
distinguished  from  "  arbitration,"  which,  properly  speaking,  is 
the  reference  of  disputes  to  an  umpire.  Far  from  being  a 
simple  solution  of  that  kind,  it  is  a  form  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, with  its  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  branches, 
its  common  law  and  statute  law,  its  penalties  and  sanctions. 
As  an  economic  organization  its  object  is,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
change  the  status  of  labor  from  one  of  caprice  and  uncertainty 
to  one  of  definiteness,  and,  on  the  other,  to  equalize  competitive 
conditions  among  employers  so  far  as  their  labor  costs  are 
concerned. 

That  the  trade  agreement  is  subject  to  abuse  and  may 
become  a  conspiracy  of  employers  and  unions  against  the  pub- 
lic is  intimated  in  two  or  three  chapters.2  Where  such  is  the 
case  the  agreement  has  passed  beyond  its  legitimate  scope  of 
protecting  labor  and  equalizing  the  competitive  labor  condi- 
tions of  employers.  It  will  be  noticed,  however,  that  in  such 
agreements  the  union  may  become  the  cat's-paw  of  an  associa- 
tion, usually  of  small  employers  or  contractors,  and  may  subject 
its  officers  to  corruption  and  itself  to  internal  dissensions. 

Labor  unions  differ  among  themselves  in  their  internal 
organization,  the  principal  distinction  among  American  unions 
being  that  of  "industrial  "  and  "trade"  unions.  The  miners' 
union  3  is  the  most  prominent  example  of  the  industrial  union, 
by  which  is  meant  the  inclusion  in  one  organization  of  all 
employees  in  an  establishment.  Another  example  is  that  of 

1  Pages  i,  65,  154.  2  Pages  39,  57,  74,  94.  3  Page  13. 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

the  butcher  workmen.1  The  "trade"  union,  or  the  union 
including  only  workmen  of  a  single  craft,  is  seen  in  its  typical 
form  in  the  several  unions  of  the  building  trades,2  but  it  will  be 
noticed  that,  through  the  practice  of  the  sympathetic  strike 
under  the  control  of  a  "  building  trades  council,"  or  a  "  board 
of  delegates,"  the  several  trade  unions  working  on  a  building 
are  able  to  combine  their  strength  in  a  way  similar  to  that  of 
an  industrial  union.  The  teamsters'  union  3  is  peculiar  in  that, 
while  all  of  its  members  follow  the  same  craft,  yet  they  work 
under  very  different  conditions  in  different  industries.  Each 
industry,  therefore,  has  its  own  craft  union,  but  the  several 
unions  in  a  city  are  united  in  a  joint  council  controlled  by  the 
same  international  organization.  The  same  is  true  of  the  joint 
council  of  the  packing  trades,4  and  herein  they  differ  from  the 
building  trades  councils,  the  separate  unions  of  which  are 
subject  to  separate  national  trade  unions. 

Typical  cases  of  the  conflicts  between  employers  and  unions 
by  way  of  strikes,  lockouts,  and  boycotts  are  deserving  of  close 
analysis.5  They  are  often  described  in  the  decisions  of  courts,6 
in  some  cases  leading  to  trade  agreements,  in  others  to  the 
destruction  of  the  labor  union.  Where  the  trade  agreement 
has  broken  down  generally,  as  in  New  Zealand  and  Australia, 
through  the  defeat  of  the  unions  in  strikes  or  lockouts,  indus- 
trial peace  has  been  sought  through  compulsory,  or  rather  state, 
arbitration,  and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  a  similar  result  is 
reached  by  state  regulation  of  the  minimum  wage.7  In  the 
United  States  the  much  greater  strength  of  organized  labor  in 
several  industries  is  reflected  in  the  trend  of  thought  and  prac- 
tical interest  away  from  state  adjustment  of  the  economic 
demands  of  unions  and  towards  the  restraint  and  control  of  the 
unions  themselves  by  the  state.  This  is  seen  in  the  discussion 
of  measures  designed  to  impose  greater  responsibility  on  unions, 
illustrated  by  the  demand  for  incorporation.8  The  discussion 

1  Page  222.  5  Pages  6^  87,  222. 

2  Pages  65,  87.  6  >age  156. 
8  Page  36.  7  Page  195. 
4  Page  223.  8  Page  137. 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

of  this  subject  brings  out  more  clearly  than  has  been  done 
before  the  legal  nature  of  these  organizations.  Here  the  atti- 
tude of  the  courts  becomes  of  paramount  importance,  and  cer- 
tain illustrative  cases  have  been  selected,  showing  the  grounds 
on  which  judges  assert  the  jurisdiction  of  courts  of  equity  in 
labor  disputes  through  the  writ  of  injunction,  as  well  as  con- 
flicting decisions  in  different  jurisdictions  on  the  boycott  and 
discriminations  against  nonunionists.1  On  the  latter  subject 
will  be  found  a  concise  statement  of  the  present  position  of 
American  law  in  the  several  states.2 

Underlying  the  organization  of  labor  are  the  economic  con- 
ditions and  issues  that  provoke  it  into  existence.  Two  industries 
which  offer  examples  of  division  of  labor  not  associated  with 
machinery  are  slaughtering  and  meat  packing  3  and  the  factory 
system  in  clothing  manufacture;4  and  the  articles  on  these 
industries  reveal  the  two  supreme  advantages  of  a  minute  divi- 
sion of  labor,  namely,  increased  speed  of  the  workman  and 
openings  for  the  cheap  labor  of  immigrants,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. The  chapter  on  the  introduction  of  the  linotype5  is 
selected,  not  because  it  is  typical  of  the  effects  on  labor  of  the 
introduction  of  machinery,  but  because  it  presents  the  excep- 
tionally wise  policy  of  an  intelligent  labor  organization  in  wel- 
coming the  machine  and  sharing  its  gains  with  the  employer, 
the  inventor,  and  the  public.  In  other  industries  machinery 
has  often  displaced  the  union  of  skilled  labor,  and  the  resulting 
effects  through  division  of  labor  should  be  looked  for  rather  in 
the  articles  on  slaughtering  and  meat  packing  and  clothing 
manufacture. 

Division  of  labor  and  machinery  make  possible  the  substitu- 
tion of  payment  by  the  piece  in  place  of  payment  by  the  day  or 
hour,  since  the  workman  is  specialized  on  simple  and  uniform 
operations,  whose  quality  can  readily  be  inspected.  But  that 
which  is  nominally  day  work  becomes  actually  piecework  when 
a  certain  output  or  task  is  required.  This  transition  from  real 

1  Page  156.  4  Page  316. 

2  Page  183.  5  Page  250. 
8  Page  222. 


x  INTRODUCTION 

day  wages  to  nominal  day  wages  but  actual  piece  wages  is  seen 
in  the  clothing  trade  and  in  slaughtering.1  The  object  and 
effect  of  piece  wages  are  greatly  to  increase  the  speed  of  the 
workman,  with  the  result  that  the  higher  earnings  tempt,  and 
through  competition,  even  force  the  employer  to  "  cut "  the 
piece  rates,  so  that  the  workman  is  earning  no  more  by  his 
intense  speed  than  he  did  when  he  took  his  time.  The  same 
result  is  reached  on  day  wages  when  a  foreman  or  a  contractor 
is  remunerated  according  to  his  success  in  reducing  costs.2  One 
object  of  labor  organizations  is  to  check  this  intense  speed, 
sometimes  by  placing  an  absolute  limit  on  the  amount  of  work 
permitted  to  be  done  in  a  given  time,3  sometimes  by  reducing 
the  task,4  and  sometimes  by  prohibiting  piecework,  bonus,  and 
task  systems.5  This  is  usually  denounced  by  employers  as 
restriction  of  output,  and  denied  by  the  unions,  but  the  dis- 
tinction should  clearly  be  made  between  the  fact  of  restriction 
and  the  justification.  Advanced  as  a  measure  of  protection  to 
health  and  to  the  older  men,  a  restriction  of  this  kind  is,  in 
principle,  justifiable,  and  the  only  question  is  that  of  drawing 
the  line  between  what  is  a  fair  output  and  what  is  excessive. 
Restriction  is  also  justified  as  a  protective  measure  in  cases 
where  the  employer  takes  advantage  of  increased  earning  to 
cut  the  piece  rate. 

The  matter  of  restriction  of  output  has  attracted  larger  atten- 
tion in  Great  Britain  than  in  the  United  States,  and  the  value 
of  the  "  case  method  "  could  not  better  be  illustrated  than  in 
the  article  by  the  manager  of  the  Manchester  Guardian?  The 
simple  question,  "  Do  unions  restrict  output  ?  "  cannot  receive  a 
truthful  general  answer.  Each  allegation  must  be  investi- 
gated with  reference  to  all  the  circumstances,  including  the 
attitude  of  employers.7  That  this  involves  technical  and  detailed 
knowledge  of  the  business,  such  as  that  displayed  by  the  writer 

1  Pages_225,  324.  3  Pages  107,  227.  5  Page  268. 

2  Pages  236,  326.  4  Page  328.  6  page  2g9. 

7  See  also  Special  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor,  on  "  Regulation  and  Restriction  of  Output."  It  may  be  obtained 
through  congressmen. 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

of  the  chapter  in  question,  should  raise  a  warning  to  those  who 
without  such  knowledge  accept  the  ex parte  statements  of  the 
parties  to  this  acute  and  invidious  dispute. 

That  restriction  of  output  is  sometimes  a  protective  measure 
is  now  recognized  by  thoughtful  employers,  as  is  seen  in  their 
increasing  approval  of  the  "  premium  system,"  which  is  designed 
to  meet  that  objection.1  The  unions  also  naturally  look  with 
suspicion  on  this  system  for  reasons  not  fully  brought  out  in 
the  chapter  on  this  subject,  because  in  the  hands  of  a  driving 
.foreman  or  superintendent  it  tends  to  become  a  task  system 
under  the  form  of  a  so-called  "  time  base."  This  becomes  a 
"dead  line,"  since  the  employee  who  is  not  able  to  earn  a  pre- 
mium is  discharged,  and  if,  in  addition,  the  employer  cuts  the 
time  base,  he  thereby  increases  the  task,  and  the  effect  is  the 
same  as  when  he  cuts  the  piece  rate.  The  virtue  of  the  premium 
system  is  that  it  automatically  cuts  the  piece  rates  when  the 
output  is  increased  and  thereby  lessens  the  temptation  of  the 
employer  arbitrarily  to  cut  them.  If  once  either  the  premium 
rate  or,  more  important,  the  time  base  is  cut,  the  system  breaks 
down  and  reverts  to  the  evils  of  piecework  which  it  is  designed 
to  obviate. 

A  mark  of  trade-union  policy  under  the  day-wage  system  as 
distinguished  from  piecework  is  the  minimum  wage.  That 
this  is  not  a  uniform  wage  is  seen  in  different  chapters.  The 
significance  of  the  minimum  wage  in  protecting  the  union 
appears  in  the  policy  of  the  butcher  workmen  2  and  the  coal 
miners,3  where  it  operates  to  give  a  preference  to  members  of 
the  union,  while  its  operation  on  a  large  scale,  covering  many 
industries  under  legislative  enactment,  shows  itself  as  a  substi- 
tute for  compulsory  arbitration.4  The  theory  of  the  minimum 
wage  is  accepted  by  employers  when  they  adopt  the  premium 
system,5  although  they  add  to  that  theory  a  device  for  speeding 
up  the  workmen  which  is  objectionable  from  the  standpoint  of 
a  union  like  that  of  the  printers.6 

1  Page  274.  *  Page  207. 

2  Page  244.  6  Page  278. 
8  Page  345.  6  Page  268. 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

Owing  to  minute  division  of  labor  and  specialization  of  work 
American  industry  has  failed  to  train  up  the  all-round  mechanic, 
and  this  failure  has  been  seriously  felt  during  the  recent  rapid 
expansion  of  trade.  Many  large  establishments  l  have  begun 
systematically  to  provide  this  training,  the  object  being  mainly 
to  secure  men  for  the  leading  positions,  such  as  foremen,  super- 
intendents, and  gang  leaders,  to  supervise  and  direct  the 
relatively  unskilled  and  specialized  machine  hands  and  piece 
workers.  The  apprentice  system,  therefore,  applies  to  scarcely 
more  than  5  or  10  per  cent  of  the  positions  in  such  an  estab- 
lishment, reliance  still  being  placed  on  the  general  labor  market 
for  supplying  the  mass  of  their  workmen.  On  the  part  of  smaller 
establishments  which  cannot  afford  the  expense  of  an  appren- 
ticeship system  the  subject  has  been  taken  up  by  associations 
of  manufacturers,  and  efforts  are  being  made  in  many  parts  of 
the  country  to  establish  technical  and  industrial  schools  sup- 
ported by  private  endowment  or  by  state  and  municipal  aid. 
The  important  distinction  between  practical  shop  work  and 
technical  school  work  is  touched  upon  in  the  chapter  dealing 
with  this  subject,  showing  the  correlation  between  the  two  that 
is  sought  to  be  maintained  in  the  modern  as  distinguished  from 
the  old  system  of  apprenticeship. 

The  characteristic  feature  of  American  labor  problems  is  that 
of  the  many  nationalities  and  races  working  together  under 
the  same  management.  Several  of  the  chapters  in  this  volume, 
while  dealing  with  other  topics,  reveal  this  great  underlying 
social  fact.  The  displacement  of  earlier  nationalities  by  newer 
types  of  immigrants  with  lower  standards  of  living  appears  at 
many  points,  and  at  the  same  time  the  resistance  to  this  dis- 
placement through  the  "  closed  shop  "  and  preference  to  union 
men  is  apparent.  The  industrial  and  social  characteristics  of 
various  peoples  afford  a  field  of  stu'dy  in  themselves,  but  the 
issues  produced  by  this  competition  of  races  appear  in  their 
extreme  form  in  the  chapter  on  the  Negro  artisan.2 

1  Page  304. 

2  Page  349.    See  also  pages  23,  241,  245,  317,  336,  379,  424,  491. 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

The  chapter  on  the  employment  of  women  in  the  clothing 
trade 1  is  in  part  a  sequel  to  that  on  the  sweating  system.  While 
the  latter  shows  the  modern  development  of  that  system, 
influenced  by  the  immigration  of  Russian  Jews,  the  former 
shows  the  protective  barriers  which  the  garment  workers' 
union  has  been  able  to  throw  about  one  branch  of  the  trade 
through  the  use  of  the  union  label.  On  account  of  the  limited 
constituency  appealed  to  through  the  label,  the  position  of 
women  in  that  industry  is  not  typical  of  their  employment  in 
general,  as  can  be  seen  in  the  statistical  chapter  on  women's 
wages  in  manual  work2  and  in  the  work  of  women  in  meat 
packing.3  The  subject  of  child  labor,  for  reasons  stated  in  the 
chapter  illustrative  of  that  subject,4  has  its  greatest  interest 
and  social  importance  in  the  employment  of  girls. 

Of  equal  significance  with  the  matter  of  wages  and  methods 
of  payment  are  those  questions  that  deal  with  the  social  conse- 
quences of  American  industry.  Foremost  is  that  of  health  in 
occupations,  with  its  related  subject,  temperance.  That  there 
is  both  an  industrial  and  an  individual  side  to  this  question  is 
brought  out  by  the  writer  on  the  printer's  health.5  The  reduc- 
tion in  the  hours  of  labor  6  is  the  most  demonstrable  fruit  of 
labor  unions,  but  the  fact  that  it  must  be  accompanied  by  a 
better  use  of  the  leisure  gained  is  also  made  plain  by  the  same 
writer. 

The  activities  of  unions  in  reducing  the  daily  period  of  work 
is  all  the  more  important  on  account  of  the  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  state  regulation  in  the  United  States.  These  obstacles 
are  found  more  in  our  form  of  government  than  in  our  economic 
conditions.  The  leading  state  in  this  line  of  protectingemployees' 
welfare7  is  handicapped  by  the  lack  of  uniformity  consequent 
upon  our  federal  system,  while  the  constitutions  of  the  states 
and  the  nation,  under  the  often  diverse  decisions  of  the  courts, 
prevent  the  legislatures  from  doing  what  in  other  countries  is 

6  Page  436. 


2  Page  396.  6  Page  454. 


8  Page  238.  7  Page  482. 

4  Page  423.  See  also  pages  242,  345. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

solely  a  matter  of  legislative  discretion.1  Though  the  courts 
are  clear  and  united  on  the  principles  underlying  their  deci- 
sions, they  differ  widely  in  their  estimate  of  the  facts  set  forth 
in  any  particular  case  as  a  justification  of  the  legislative  act. 
Even  an  amendment  to  a  state  constitution  is  not  enough  to 
remove  this  subject  from  judicial  discretion,  since  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  under  the  fourteenth  amend- 
ment, has  shown  its  determination  to  restrain  state  enact- 
ments wherever  its  judgment  does  not  approve  the  necessity  of 
such  legislation.  These  principles  appear  in  the  decisions  in 
the  case  of  Holden  v.  Hardy  and  Lochner  v.  New  York.1 

Unquestionably  the  most  advanced  act  of  government  in 
caring  for  the  welfare  of  working  people  is  found  in  the  move- 
ment away  from  employers'  liability  under  the  common  law 
to  workmen's  compensation  and  compulsory  insurance  under 
statute  law.2  That  this  movement  is  as  yet  confined  to  foreign 
countries  renders  it  no  less  interesting  by  way  of  comparison 
with  American  practice,  as  pointed  out  in  Chapter  XXV. 

More  perplexing  than  all  labor  problems  is  that  of  irreg- 
ular and  uncertain  employment.  The  cycles  of  prosperity  and 
depression  affect  both  capital  and  labor  alike  and  obstruct  the 
best  intentioned  efforts  of  employers,  unions,  and  legislatures. 
An  idea  of  the  significance  of  this  distressing  problem  may  be 
seen  in  the  slaughtering  and  meat-packing  industry,3  and  its 
influence  is  sometimes  seen  in  the  policy  of  restricting  output 
in  order  to  "make  work  "  or  "spread  out  work."  Attempts  to 
lighten  the  evils  of  unemployment  are  seen  in  the  out-of-work 
benefits  of  the  cigar  makers,4  in  the  efforts  of  Swiss  cantons  to 
provide  relief  by  way  of  insurance,5  and  in  the  public  employ- 
ment offices  of  the  United  States  and  Germany.6 

JOHN  R.  COMMONS. 

1  Page  509.  3  Page  229.  6  Page  589. 

2  Pages  546,  574.  *  Page  527.  .6  Page  603. 


TRADE   UNIONISM   AND   LABOR 
PROBLEMS 

I 

TRADE   AGREEMENTS1 

Philanthropists  have  long  been  dreaming  of  the  time  when 
capital  and  labor  should  lay  aside  the  strike  and  boycott  and 
should  resort  to  arbitration.  By  arbitration  they  understand 
the  submission  of  differences  to  a  disinterested  third  party. 
But  the  philanthropists  have  overlooked  a  point.  Arbitration 
is  never  accepted  until  each  party  to  a  dispute  is  equally  afraid 
of  the  other ;  and  when  they  have  reached  that  point,  they  can 
adopt  something  better  than  arbitration,  —  namely,  negotiation. 
This  distinction  was  clearly  brought  out  at  the  notable  confer- 
ence on  arbitration  held  at  Chicago  in  December,  1900,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  National  Civic  Federation.  All  the  speakers 
were  men  of  practical  experience,  and  they  agreed  that  arbitra- 
tion is  impossible  without  organization,  and  that  two  equally 
powerful  organizations  can  negotiate  as  well  as  arbitrate.  This 
higher  form  of  industrial  peace — negotiation — has  now  reached 
a  formal  stage  in  a  half  dozen  large  industries  in  the  United 
States,  which,  owing  to  its  remarkable  likeness  to  parliamen- 
tary government  in  the  country  of  its  origin,  England,  may 
well  be  called  constitutional  government  in  industry. 

The  longshoremen  and  the  dock  managers  of  the  Great  Lakes 
now  meet  twice  a  year  in  a  grand  parliament  of  two  houses,  — 
the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House  of  Commons.  The  House 
of  Lords  is  a  primary  assembly  of  all  the  dock  managers  along 

1  From  the  Review  of  Reviews,  March,  1901. 


2  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  lakes,  each  firm  or  corporation  appearing  in  its  primary 
right  of  ownership.  The  House  of  Commons  is  a  representa- 
tive assembly  of  two  delegates  from  each  local  union  of  long- 
shoremen. The  dock  managers,  to  the  number  of  twenty  or 
thirty,  meet  in  their  house  on  one  side  of  the  street ;  the  long- 
shoremen, to  the  number  of  sixty  or  more,  meet  in  another 
house  on  the  other  side.  Each  house  appoints  a  conference 
committee  of  four  or  five  members,  including  its  president  and 
secretary.  These  cammittees  receive  proper  instructions  from 
their  constituent  bodies.  They  meet  in  joint  sessions,  where 
they  present  their  demands  and  counter-demands.  They  are 
referred  back  to  the  respective  houses  for  discussion  and  further 
instructions.  In  this  way,  for  ten  or  fifteen  days,  they  higgle 
and  bluff  and  parry  until  they  can  agree  on  a  scale  of  wages 
and  conditions  of  labor  for  every  port  and  every  kind  of  traffic 
under  their  joint  jurisdiction.  There  is  no  arbitration;  nothing 
is  submitted  to  a  disinterested  third  party.  Each  house  has  a 
veto  on  the  other.  The  legislation  adopted  must  be  such  that 
each  independently  consents  to  it ;  not  that  each  is  fully  satis- 
fied with  it,  but  that  each  is  convinced  that  nothing  better  can 
be  secured  without  civil  war,  i.e.  a  strike  or  lockout.  In  this 
way,  some  twenty  dock  companies  and  several  thousand  dock 
laborers  have  created  the  highest  form  of  industrial  peace,  - 
constitutional  government. 

The  bituminous  mine  operators  and  the  bituminous  mine 
workers  of  the  four  great  states  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and 
Pennsylvania  have  essentially  the  same  constitution,  except  that 
the  two  houses  meet  at  times  upon  the  same  floor.  This  annual 
interstate  conference  of  the  bituminous  coal  industry  is  the 
most  picturesque  and  inspiring  event  in  the  modern  world  of 
business.  Here  is  an  industry  where,  for  many  years,  indus- 
trial war  was  chronic,  bloodshed  frequent,  distrust,  hatred,  and 
poverty  universal.  To-day  the  leaders  of  the  two  sides  come' 
together  for  a  two  weeks'  parliament,  face  to  face,  with  plain 
speaking,  without  politics,  religion,  or  demagogy;  and  there 
they  legislate  for  an  industry  that  sends  upon  the  market  annu- 
ally $200,000,000  of  product.  At  the  annual  joint  conference 


TRADE  AGREEMENTS 


of  1900  —  the  third  in  the  history  of  their  constitution — there 
were  presented  the  credentials  of  195  operators  and  450  miners. 
The  operators,  like  the  dock  managers,  were  there,  each  in  his 
own  right,  as  owners  of  coal  mines  in  the  four  states.  The 
miners  were  there  as  the  elected  representatives  of  110,000 
mine  workers  in  the  employment  of  these  same  operators. 
Here  were  more  than  600  men,  sitting  on  the  same  floor,  the 
employers  on  the  right  side,  the  employees  on  the  left  side, 
each  subdivided  in  four  groups,  according  to  their  four  states, 
as  follows  : 


Operators 

States 

Miners 

72 

Illinois  

27C 

60 

Indiana.  (Dists  8  and  11) 

60 

CO 

Ohio 

QO 

0^ 

*3 

Pennsylvania  (Dist.  5  and  Central  Field)  .... 

65 

IOC 

Total 

4.^0 

lyj 

Plainly,  if  the  two  sides  of  this  conference  are  to  be  placed 
on  an  equality,  the  450  miners  cannot  be  permitted  to  outvote 
the  195  operators.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  an  advantage  for 
them  to  meet  and  vote  together,  instead  of  separately,  as  is 
done  by  the  longshoremen  and  dock  managers.  This  obstacle 
is  overcome  by  giving  to  the  operators  16  votes  and  the  miners 
1 6  votes,  subdivided  into  4  votes  for  each  state.  Thus  the 
235  miners  of  Illinois  have  the  same  number  of  votes  as  the 
13  operators  of  Pennsylvania,  and  so  on.  Their  votes  are  cast 
by  the  chairman  of  each  delegation.  Finally,  and  most  sig- 
nificant of  all,  while  a  majority  vote  decides  all  questions  of 
procedure,  a  unanimous  vote  is  required  on  all  "  main  and  prin- 
cipal questions,"  i.e.  questions  affecting  the  proposed  scale  of 
wages  and  trade  agreement.  The  theory  is  that  there  are  just 
two  parties  to  the  bargain,  —  the  employer  and  the  workman. 
And,  like  any  voluntary  purchase  and  sale,  each  party  must 
consent  to  all  the  terms.  This  unanimous  vote  is  brought 
about  in  the  following  way.  Of  course,  six  hundred  men 


4  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

cannot  "  get  down  to  business."  Not  only  is  the  opportunity  too 
great  for  cheap  and  loud  talk,  but  the  main  discussion  is  being 
continually  thrown  off  the  track  by  subordinate  topics.  Con- 
sequently, the  joint  conference  appoints  a  "  joint  scale  com- 
mittee "  of  thirty-two,  including  four  operators  from  each  state 
and  four  miners  from  each  state,  each  selected  by  their  respec- 
tive caucuses.  But  this  committee  of  thirty-two  finds  itself 
also  too  large.  It  therefore  appoints  from  its  own  number  a 
"  subscale  committee  "  of  sixteen,  which  reports  its  conclusions 
back  to  the  separate  houses. 

The  most  comforting  feature  of  these  negotiations  is  the 
matter-of-fact  way  in  which  each  side  takes  the  other.  There 
is  none  of  that  old-time  hypocrisy  on  the  part  of  the  employers, 
that  their  great  interest  in  life  is  to  shower  blessings  upon 
their  hands  ;  and  there  is  none  of  that  ranting  demagogy  on  the 
part  of  the  workmen  about  the  dignity  of  labor  and  the  iniquity 
of  capital.  -On  the  contrary,  each  side  frankly  admits  that  its 
ruling  motive  is  self-interest ;  that  it  is  trying  to  get  as  much 
as  it  can  and  to  give  as  little  as  it  must ;  and  that  the  only 
sanction  which  compels  them  to  come  together,  and  to  stay 
together  until  they  reach  a  unanimous  vote,  is  the  positive  knowl- 
edge that  otherwise  the  mines  will  shut  down  and  neither 
the  miner  will  earn  wages  nor  the  operator  reap  profits.  It  is 
simply  wholesome  fear  that  backs  their  discussions  ;  the  capi- 
talist knows  that  there  are  no  other  laborers  in  the  world  whom 
he  can  import  as  "  scabs  "  to  take  the  places  of  those  whose 
representatives  face  him  in  this  conference  and  this  scale  com- 
mittee, and  he  knows,  too,  from  a  severe  experience,  that  every 
one  of  these  110,000  miners  will  obey  as  one  man  the  voice  of 
these  their  chosen  representatives.  The  miners  know,  also, 
that  these  capitalists  with  whom  they  are  negotiating  are  the 
very  ones  who  control  their  only  opportunities  for  earning  the 
wages  that  feed  themselves  and  their  families.  Consequently, 
everybody  knows  that  an  agreement  must  be  reached  before 
adjournment,  or  else  the  industry  will  be  reduced  to  anarchy,  and 
their  wages  and  profits,  to  say  nothing  of  lives,  will  be  destroyed. 


TRADE  AGREEMENTS  5 

The  above  statement  as  to  the  unanimous  vote  needs  quali- 
fication. The  method  of  voting  is  rather  that  of  the  unit  rule, 
combined  with  unanimous  vote  of  the  units.  It  will  be  noticed 
from  what  was  said  that  there  are  8  units,  4  for  the  operators 
and  4  for  the  miners,  each  casting  4  votes.  Now,  each  unit 
makes  up  its  vote  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  individuals  within 
the  unit.  Indeed,  it  sometimes  occurs  that  after  a  so-called 
unanimous  vote  an  individual  operator  rises  to  protest  against 
it.  But,  as  a  rule,  by  caucusing  and  conferring,  the  operators 
vote  solidly  together  and  the  miners  solidly  together.  The  two 
sides  are  brought  together  only  through  the  services  of  the 
scale  committee,  as  follows  : 

In  every  trade  agreement  there  are  usually  two  large  and 
distinct  questions  on  which  the  parties  differ,  namely,  wages 
and  methods  of  managing  employees.  The  labor  side  wants 
higher  wages  (including  short  hours)  and  restrictions  on  bosses 
and  foremen.  The  employer  side  wants  low  wages  and  a  free 
hand  for  the  boss.  Each  side  thereupon  comes  to  the  joint  con- 
ference with  demands  more  extreme  than  it  expects  to  see 
granted.  At  the  conference  of  1900  the  operators  offered  an 
advance  of  9  cents  per  ton  and  the  miners  demanded  an 
advance  of  20  cents.  The  operators  wished  to  retain  the  system 
of  paying  for  the  screened  coal  only,  and  not  for  the  slack  and 
waste ;  but  the  miners  demanded  payment  on  the  basis  of  the 
"  run-of-the-mine,"  i.e.  of  all  coal  brought  to  the  surface,  before 
it  is  run  over  the  screens.  The  miners  asked  also  7  cents  dif- 
ferential between  pick  and  machine  mining,  but  the  operators 
wanted  12  cents  differential. 

These  opposing  propositions  had  been  formulated  in  separate 
conventions  and  conferences  by  the  opposing  sides.  The  opera- 
tors' position  was  presented  to  the  joint  conference  and  received 
the  unanimous  "aye"  of  the  operators  and  the  unanimous  "no" 
of  the  miners.  The  miners'  proposition  was  then  presented, 
and  received  the  unanimous  "  aye  "  of  the  miners  and  the  unani- 
mous "  no  "  of  the  operators.  The  two  sides  then  began  their 
parrying.  Mr.  Mitchell  accused  the  operators  of  "joking." 
The  operators  accused  the  miners  of  absurdity.  Several  days 


6  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

were  spent  in  these  tilts.  An  operator  acted  as  chairman,  with 
eminent  fairness ;  a  miner  acted  as  secretary.  Finally,  when 
the  occasion  seemed  desperate  and  everybody  had  threshed  out 
his  opinions  and  proclaimed  his  unalterable  determination  never 
to  yield,  the  scale  committee  held  its  private  sessions  for  a  day 
and  a  half.  Concessions  were  made  on  both  sides.  Certain 
matters  were  left  undecided  or  referred  back  to  the  state  con- 
ferences. The  committee  reported  a  unanimous  agreement, 
and  the  joint  conference  adopted  it  unanimously.  It  gave  an 
advance  of  14  cents  in  some  districts,  and  9  cents  in  others. 
It  permitted  the  "  mine-run  "  standard  in  certain  districts,  and 
the  "  screened  "  standard  in  other  districts,  and  a  "double  stand- 
ard "  in  yet  a  third  group  of  districts,  but  regulated  the  size  of 
the  screen  and  fixed  a  wide  differential  between  "mine-run" 
and  "regulation  screen."  Similar  compromises  were  made  on 
the  machine  scale,  day  labor,  and  all  along  the  line.  Nobody 
was  satisfied,  yet  everybody  was  satisfied.  It  was  the  best  they 
could  do,  and  it  saved  the  business  from  paralysis.  "A  failure 
to  agree,"  said  President  Mitchell  in  his  closing  speech, 
"would  not  only  have  ruined  the  homes  of  the  miners,  but 
would  have  ruined  the  business  of  the  operators."  And  though 
the  miners  did  not  get  what  they  expected,  yet,  said  Mitchell, 
"  there  has  never  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  mining,  even 
within  the  recollection  of  the  oldest  one  among  you,  when  an 
advance  so  great  as  this,  and  applied  to  so  great  a  number  of 
men,  was  secured." 

This  remarkable  form  of  constitutional  government  is  not  the 
creation  of  any  single  intellect,  nor  of  any  constitutional  con- 
vention. It  did  not  spring  self-created  from  the  theories  of 
economists  or  publicists.  It  "just  growed,"  like  Topsy  and 
the  British  constitution.  Indeed,  it  has  not  yet  finished  grow- 
ing. No  man  can  be  found  who  can  tell  who  it  was  that  first 
suggested  this  or  that  feature  of  their  constitution.  For  more 
than  twenty-five  years  the  miners  and  operators  have  held  joint 
conferences  off  and  on  in  scattered  districts.  A  temporary 
union  of  miners  would  spring  up,  the  operators  would  organize 
to  meet  it,  formal  or  informal  conferences  would  result,  but 


TRADE  AGREEMENTS  7 

always  heretofore  there  have  been  two  radical  defects  in  enforc- 
ing their  .agreements:  first,  the  miners'  organization  did  not 
control  the  entire  competitive  field ;  second,  the  constitution 
had  developed  only  a  legislative  branch  of  government,  but  not 
a  judicial  branch.  Neither  of  these  defects  have  even  yet  been 
entirely  overcome. 

The  first  defect  just  mentioned  was  overcome  in  1897,  as  far 
as  the  favorable  conditions  of  existing  prosperity  demanded, 
when  the  miners'  union  conquered  the  state  of  Illinois.  Prior 
to  that  time  it  controlled  only  the  northern  district  of  Illinois, 
and  every  effort  to  establish  uniform  wages  and  conditions  over 
the  interstate  field  was  undermined  by  the  cutthroat  competi- 
tion of  the  southern  districts.  But  in  1897  the  miners  inaugu- 
rated a  notable  strike,  beginning  with  less  than  1000  members 
in  that  state  and  no  money,  and  ending  in  a  complete  victory, 
with  35,000  members  and  a  full  treasury.  Immediately  the 
first  interstate  joint  conference  was  called  at  Chicago,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1898,  and  a  scale  and  an  agreement  were  adopted  for  the 
four  states.  These  were  successfully  enforced  everywhere  for 
the  succeeding  year.  This  inspired  confidence  on  the  part  of 
the  operators.  The  second  conference  was  held  at  Pittsburg,  in 
January,  1899,  and  others  annually. 

The  success  of  each  conference  depends  directly  upon  the 
enforcement  of  the  legislation  of  the  preceding  conference. 
Curiously  enough,  this  enforcement  falls  solely  upon  the 
miners'  organization.  The  operators,  indeed,  have  their  several 
state  associations,  but  no  national  nor  interstate  association  like 
that  of  the  miners.  Moreover,  the  operators  are  loosely 
organized.  They  can  bring  only  moral  suasion  to  bear  upon 
the  recalcitrant  operator  who  rebels  at  their  national  decrees. 
But  the  miners  can  do  more ;  they  not  only  can  suspend  their 
own  local  unions  which  violate  the  agreement,  but  they  can 
shut  down  the  mine  of  the  rebellious  operator  and  drive  him  out 
of  business.  The  operators  understand  this,  and  they  know 
that  their  own  protection  against  the  cutthroat  operator  depends 
solely  on  the  Miners'  Union.  President  Mitchell,  of  the  union, 
at  the  close  of  the  Indianapolis  conference,  significantly  accepted 


8  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

his  office  of  joint  executive  in  what  might  be  called  his  inaugu- 
ral. He  said  :  "  I  will  give  notice  to  the  operators  now  that, 
when  they  go  home,  unless  they  keep  the  agreement  inviolate, 
we  will  call  the  men  out  ;  and  I  will  serve  notice  on  the  miners 
that,  unless  they  keep  the  laws  of  the  organization,  we  will 
suspend  them  from  the  organization." 

Plainly  this  amazing  inaugural  as  executive  over  a  grand 
national  industry  —  a  pledge  of  an  imperium  in  imperio  — 
depends  for  its  validity  on  the  control  of  the  entire  competi- 
tive field.  Just  as  southern  Illinois  prior  to  1897  could  break 
down  the  executive  by  sending  its  labor-exploited  coal  to  the 
common  markets,  so  now  there  is  danger  in  the  unorganized 
regions  of  West  Virginia,  with  their  negroes  and  Italians  and 
poor  whites.  The  output  of  these  unorganized  miners  is  a 
growing  menace,  and  when  business  depression  returns  will  be 
an  imminent  peril.  There  is  also  an  ever-present  irritation  in 
the  hundreds  of  small  mines  operated  by  farmers  and  others, 
and  their  sons,  at  odd  times  and  between  jobs.  In  Illinois 
there  are  some  900  mines  of  which  only  200  are  represented  in 
the  state  association  ;  the  other  700  produce  only  10  per  cent 
of  the  product.  These  small  concerns  are  locally  troublesome 
and  may  become  dangerous. 

The  second  defect  in  the  constitutional  government  of  the 
bituminous  industry  is  the  absence  of  a  judiciary.  The  joint 
conference  is 'the  legislative  branch;  the  president  of  the 
miners'  unions  is  the  executive  branch  ;  but  there  is  no  judicial 
branch.  If  the  reader  noticed  the  quotation  above  from  Presi- 
dent Mitchell's  inaugural,  he  will  have  observed  that  Mr. 
Mitchell  himself  expects  not  only  to  execute  the  law  upon  the 
operator,  but  also  to  decide  first  whether  the  operator  has 
violated  it.  Now  this  is  plainly  a  matter  for  judicial  deter- 
mination. The  interstate  agreement  has  never  provided  for  a 
jury  nor  a  judicial  hearing.  Here  is  the  next  line  of  growth. 
And  indeed  growth  has  already  begun  in  this  direction.  The 
latest  and  extremely  significant  development  in  this  phase  of 
industrial  evolution  is  the  creation,  during  the  year  1900, 
by  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators'  Association,  of  the  office  of 


TRADE  AGREEMENTS  9 

"  Commissioner."  l  This  commissioner  bears  the  same  relation 
to  the  state  operators'  association  that  the  president  of  the  state 
miners'  association  bears  to  that  organization.  He  lacks,  of 
course,  equal  executive  power,  because  his  organization  does 
not  hold  the  whip.  But  he  consults  with  the  miners'  executive 
in  every  case  of  local  dispute.  A  complaint,  for  example,  comes 
to  Mr.  Justi  —  "the  commissioner"  —from  an  operator  some- 
where in  the  state  to  the  effect  that  the  local  union  has  ordered 
its  members  out  on  a  strike.  Mr.  Justi  at  once  telephones  to 
Mr.  Ryan,  the  state  secretary  of  the  miners.  Mr.  Ryan  forth- 
with orders  the  local  union  to  return  to  work  pending  inves- 
tigation. Then  both  Mr.  Justi  and  Mr.  Ryan  proceed  to  the 
point  of  disturbance.  They  hear  both  sides.  They  reach  a 
common  interpretation  of  the  interstate  agreement  as  applied  to 
this  particular  dispute.  The  local  operator  and  the  local  miners 
are  then  informed  of  the  decision  and  the  necessary  orders  are 
given.  The  case  is  settled,  not  by  the  sole  dictum  of  the 
miners'  executive,  but  by  the  joint  decision  of  the  two  execu-_ 
tives  of  the  miners  and  operators.  The  first  yearV  Criafofthis 
innovation  has  demonstrated  its  value  and  has  given  to  it  an 
indispensable  place  in  the  frame  of  government.  It  only 
remains  for  other  states  to  create  a  similar  office,  and  then  for 
an  interstate  association  of  coal  operators  to  create  the  same 
officer  to  meet  the  national  president  of  the  mine  workers' 
union.  It  should  be  added  that  in  the  longshoremen's  agree- 
ment these  local  differences  and  interpretations  of  the  general 
trade  agreement  are  submitted  to  arbitration,  provided  the  two 
executives  cannot  agree. 

Other  industries  with  powerful  labor  unions  have  reached 
results  similar  to  those  of  the  longshoremen  and  coal  miners, 
but  by  less  bulky  methods.  The  conference  between  the  Stove 
Founders'  National  Defense  Association  and  the  Iron  Molders' 
Union  was  not  only  among  the  first  to  substitute  negotiation 
for  arbitration  as  a  basis  of  agreement,  but  also  the  first  to 
create  the  double  executive  and  judiciary.  The  employers  had 

1  Other  state  and  local  associations  of  operators  have  commissioners,  and  in 
1905  they  formed  an  association  for  the  discussion  of  common  questions. 


10  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

organized  their  association  in  1886  for  defense  against  the 
powerful  molders'  union,  which,  they  felt,  was  tyrannizing. their 
business.  In  a  fiercely  fought  strike  the  molders  were  defeated, 
but  the  employers  suffered  so  seriously  that  they  consented 
to  discuss  plans  for  future  trade  agreements.  In  1891  five 
representatives  of  each  organization  met  in  a  constitutional 
convention.  Here,  unlike  the  miners,  they  created  outright  a 
brand-new  form  of  government.  The  representatives  of  the 
molders  urged  the  strict  arbitration  plan.  The  manufacturers, 
says  President  Castle,  of  their  organization,  "  refused  to  enter 
into  an  agreement  that  would  obligate  them  in  advance  to  sub- 
mit important  questions  affecting  their  business  to  the  decision 
of  an  odd,  disinterested  man,  who  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
business  and  who  might  be  biased.  Arguments  upon  this  ques- 
tion were  earnest  and  extended.  It  was  contended  extremely 
difficult  to  secure  the  services  of  such  a  man.  Extravagant, 
unjust,  and  ridiculous  demands  would  be  made  by  the  molders 
because  there  would  be  a  chance  to  gain  through  the  odd  man, 
while  there  could  not  possibly  be  a  loss.  The  employer  would 
not  stand  an  even  chance  with  the  employee,  aside  from  the 
merits  of  the  situation,  in  an  average  number  of  arbitrations, 
because  public  sympathy  is  with  the  workman ;  they  have  the 
votes ;  they  have  patronage  to  bestow  upon  every  business  and 
profession,  and  they  know  how  to  use  this  influence  to  the 
best  advantage." 

^  It  was  finally  agreed  to  create  a  conference  committee  of  six 
members,  three  from  each  organization.  This  committee  meets 
every  year  in  March  or  April  and  establishes  a  general  piece- 
rate  scale  of  prices  for  the  year.  There  is  no  concurrent  confer- 
ence of  the  two  organizations  on  the  large  scale  existing  in  the 
wharfage  and  coal-mining  industries.  All  local  disputes  con- 
cerning the  interpretation  of  the  national  agreement  are  settled 
locally  if  possible  ;  if  not,  then  by  the  two  presidents  of  the 
national  associations ;  but  if  these  disagree,  then  by  the  original 
conference  committee  of  six,  wherein  a  majority  vote  decides. 
In  nine  years  this  conference  committee  has  been  called 
together  only  once,  so  successful  have  been  the  presidents  in 


TRADE  AGREEMENTS  II 

settling  every  dispute.  During  these  nine  years  there  has  not 
been  a  general  strike,  and  no  local  strike  or  lockout  has  lasted 
more  than  one  or  two  days.  During  the  depression  there  was 
no  reduction  in  wages,  but  in  1899  there  was  an  advance  of  10 
per  cent,  and  in  1900  an  advance  of  5  per  cent.  The  total 
advances  to  1902  were  20  per  cent.  Other  industries  might 
be  mentioned,  but  these  illustrate  the  principles. 

First,  the  employer  must  recognize  the  union.  This  does 
not  necessarily  mean  unionizing  hispfeee.  Here  is  an  interest- 
ing phase  of  these  national  trade  agreements.  The  employers 
who  enter  into  them  make  a  distinction,  as  already  stated, 
between  the  question  of  wages  and  the  question  of  control  over 
their  own  business.  They  are  willing  to  pay  high  wages  if  all 
their  competitors  pay  the  same  wages.  It  is  not  hfgh  wages 
that  they  dread,  but  secret  and  unfair  cutting  of  wages.  This 
is  also  exactly  what  the  la^orers^  resist.  The  joint  state  or 
national  agreements  place  all  competitors  on  the  same  basis  in 
the  same  market.  Indeed,  in  the  coal  trade  the  scale  is  nicely 
adjusted  so  that  the  districts  with  the  better  quality  of  coal  and 
the  lower  railway  charges  are  required  to  pay  enough  higher 
wages  than  other  districts  to  counterbalance  their  superior 
natural  advantages.  On  this  basis,  so  far  as  the  union  enforces 
the  agreement  every  operator  knows  exactly  what  his  competi- 
tor's coal  is  costing  ;  there  is  no  secret  cutting  ;  and  the  trade 
is  not  brought  down  to  the  level  of  the  few  unscrupulous  and 
oppressive  operators  who  grind  down  their  laborers.  For  this 
reason  the  bulk  of  employers  who  have  had  experience  with 
these  joint  agreements  are  heartily  in  favor  of  them. 

But  the  case  is  different  with  the  restrictive  rules  of  the 
unions.  Formerly  an  operator  dreaded  most  of  all  the  "  pit 
committee  "  of  the  local  union.  This  committee  corresponds 
to  the  walking  delegate.  The  "  pit  committee  "  would  often 
dispute  with  the  foreman  or  boss  as  to  authority  over  the  men, 
and  would  order  miners  to  do  this  or  that  and  forbid  them  to 
do  other  things,  in  contradiction  to  the  orders  of  the  foreman. 
Consequently,  when  the  mine-workers'  union  demanded  in  their 
first  interstate  agreement  that  only  union  men  be  employed,  the 


12  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

operators  refused,  and  that  question  is  still  a  draw.  But  it  has 
practically  solved  itself.  Since  there  is  no  interstate  legislation 
on  the  subject,  the  local  unions  are  free  to  take  the  matter  into 
their  own  hands ;  and  they  have  done  this  effectually  by  refus- 
ing to  work  with  nonunion  men.  And  the  local  operators  have 
everywhere  quietly  conceded  the  point,  because  they  no  longer 
are  subject  to  the  "pit  committee  "  If  they  have  any  trouble 
now  with  that  committee,  they  call  in  the  two  executive  and 
judicial  officers  of  the  two  state  or  national  associations  and 
these  decide  the  issue  between  the  "  pit  committee  "  and  the 
operator: 

This  matter  works  out  in  the  same  way  in  the  stove  trade. 
The  employers  jealously  refused  to  unionize  their  shops,  but 
they  found  when  their  national  agreements  got  in  working 
order  that  a  "  union  "  shop  is  just  as  free  as  an  "  independent  " 
shop.  The  case  is  different  with  the  longshoremen,  the  boot 
and  shoe  workers,  and  the  Typographical  Union,  where  local 
disputes  are  submitted  to  an  outside  arbitrator.  In  these 
agreements  the  factories  and  shops  are  required  to  be  unionized. 
The  unions  claim  that  otherwise  they  cannot  enforce  upon  their 
own  locals  the  arbitration  awards. 

The  most  important  result  of  these  trade  agreements  is  the 
new  feeling  of  equality  and  mutual  respect  which  springs  up  in 
both  employer  and  employee.  After  all  has  been  said  in  press 
and  pulpit  about  the  "  dignity  of  labor,"  the  only  "dignity" 
that  really  commands  respect  is  the  bald  necessity  of  dealing 
with  labor  on  equal  terms.  With  scarcely  an  exception  the 
capitalist  officials  who  make  these  agreements  with  the  labor 
officials  of  these  powerful  unions  testify  to  their  shrewdness, 
their  firmness,  their  temperance,  their  integrity,  and  their  faith- 
fulness to  contracts.  Magnificent  generalship  is  shown  in 
combining  under  one  leadership  the  miscellaneous  races,  reli- 
gions, and  politics  that  compose  the  miners  or  the  dock  laborers 
of  America.  The  labor  movement  of  no  other  country  has 

faced  such  a  problem. 

J.  R.  COMMONS. 


II 


THE  MINERS'   UNION:    ITS  BUSINESS  MANAGE- 
MENT1 

The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  has  a  total  member- 
ship in  the  United  States  exceeding  300,000.  Its  officials  claim 
for  it  the  distinction  of  being  the  strongest  and  largest  single 
trade  union  in  the  world.  It  is  well  organized  in  at  least  ten  of 
the  twenty-seven  coal-producing  states,  and  is  gradually  extend- 
ing its  power  into  all  of  the  twenty-seven.  About  75  per  cent 
of  all  the  coal  mine  employees  in  the  country  are  at  present 
members  of  the  union;  more  than  85  per  cent  of  the  total  of 
486,000  are  governed  by  the  union's  scales  and  work  under  its 
conditions  of  employment ;  and,  the  officials  of  the  union  claim, 
fully  90  per  cent  of  all  coal  mine  workers  in  the  United  States 
would  go  out  on  a  strike  if  a  national  suspension  of  coal  mining 
is  ever  found  to  be  necessary  by  the  union. 

The  general  scheme  of  organization  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  bears  a  close  resemblance  in  many  of  its  features  to 
that  of  our  political  organization.  It  is  composed  of  national, 
district,  subdistrict,  and  local  unions.  The  jurisdiction  of  the 
national  union  is  intended  to  cover  the  entire  coal-producing 
area  of  the  country.  At  present  it  is  effective  in  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ala- 
bama, the  hard-coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  portions  of 
the  central  and  western  bituminous  coal  fields  of  that  state.  It 
also  extends  into  Maryland,  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Michigan, 
Arkansas,  Indian  Territory,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Montana, 
and  Texas. 

1  From  Annals,  American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  Vol.  XXV,  1905,  pp. 
67-86.  See  also  Report  Anthracite  Coal  Strike  Commission,  Bulletin  No.  46, 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor ;  John  Mitchell,  Organized  Labor,  chapters  40  to  45. 


14  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Subject  to  the  constitution  of  the  national  union  and  the 
legislation  of  the  national  convention  the  district  union  gener- 
ally has  jurisdiction  over  a  particular  state.  This  is  due  to  the 
convenience  of  state  line  divisions.  There  are  exceptions,  how- 
ever. In  Pennsylvania,  for  example,  owing  to  the  unusual  promi- 
nence of  the  coal-producing  area  of  that  state,  there  are  six 
districts:  Districts  I,  7,  and  9  in  the  anthracite  region;  Dis- 
trict 2  in  the  Clearfield  or  central  soft  coal  field ;  District  5  in 
the  Pittsburg  or  western  bituminous  coal  field ;  and  District  16, 
which  also  includes  Maryland.  In  Indiana  District  8  covers  the 
block  coal  field  and  District  1 1  the  bituminous  coal  territory  of 
that  state.  In  a  few  cases  one  district  extends  over  more  than 
one  state,  —  District  17  includes  Virginia  as  well  as  West  Vir- 
ginia and  District  21  takes  in  Arkansas  and  Indian  Territory. 
Under  the  constitution  and  legislation  of  the  district  union  are 
the  subdistrict  unions.  These  subdistrict  unions  have  been 
made  a  feature  of  the  organization  in  order  that  special  regula- 
tion may  be  secured  in  particular  cases  for  widely  varying  con- 
ditions, which  prevail  in  almost  every  state,  without  placing  the 
whole  district  in  jeopardy  when  only  small  areas  are  affected. 
Within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  subdistrict  are  the  local  unions, 
—  the  units  making  up  the  district  and  national  unions.  The 
local  union  is  the  smallest  of  the  four  unions.  It  usually  has 
jurisdiction  over  the  mine  workers  at  a  particular  colliery  or 
mine.  It  must  have  at  least  ten  members.  The  constitution 
and  legislation  of  the  national  union  and  the  agreement  of  the 
Interstate  Joint  Conference,  which  latter  is  entered  into  between 
representatives  of  operators  and  mine  workers,  take  precedence 
and  are  supreme  over  all  the  unions.  The  district  exercises 
authority  and  governing  surveillance  over  the  subdistricts,  and 
the  subdistrict  over  the  locals.  Each  union,  however,  has  its 
own  constitution  and  by-laws,  its  own  officers  and  conventions, 
and  it  legislates  for  its  own  particular  area  within  the  authority 
granted  to  it. 

The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  is  one  of  the  most 
democratic  organizations  in  the  world,  but  has  the  possibility 
of  becoming  all  at  once  one  of  the  most  autocratic.  It  is 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  15 

democratic  in  the  sense  that  in  the  final  analysis  its  policy  and 
management  is  in  the  hands  of  its  members.  All  power  vests 
with  them  in  their  collective  capacity.  To  them  in  their  local 
unions  every  great  question  affecting  the  national  union  is 
referred  sooner  or  later,  and  from  the  local  unions  come  the  final 
decisions  on  all  such  questions.  They  nominate  and  elect  by 
direct  vote  of  the  members  the  president,  vice  president,  and 
secretary-treasurer ;  indirectly  through  their  particular  districts 
they  elect  the  members  of  the  national  executive  board ;  they 
choose  the  delegates  that  make  up  the  national  convention  ;  they 
send  instructions  to  this  convention ;  upon  most  of  the  recom- 
mendations made  to  this  convention  by  the  president  they  in- 
struct their  delegates  before  the  convention  assembles  how  they 
are  to  vote ;  they  not  only  choose  the  national  and  their  own 
local  officers,  but  through  regularly  elected  delegates  they  com- 
pose the  subdistricts  and  districts  and  through  these  determine 
the  policy  that  is  to  be  adopted  in  any  particular  instance. 

Once  a  year  representatives  of  the  local  unions  meet  in  regu- 
lar convention  as  the  national  union,  usually  at  Indianapolis, 
beginning  the  third  Monday  in  January,  and  for  ten  days  or  two 
weeks  outline  the  policy  of  the  national  union  for  the  ensuing 
year.  This  convention  possesses  absolute  power  ;  there  is  noth- 
ing affecting  the  organization  it  cannot  do  even  to  altering  or 
amending  its  fundamental  law,  the  constitution.  It  can  even 
abrogate,  if  it  so  chooses,  the  agreement  of  the  Interstate  Joint 
Conference.  The  representatives  to  this  convention  are  elected 
directly  by  the  local  unions  on  the  basis  of  one  vote  in  the  con- 
vention for  each  one  hundred  members  (or  less),  and  an  addi- 
tional vote  for  each  additional  one  hundred  members  or  majority 
fraction  thereof.  No  representative,  however,  can  cast  more 
than  five  votes  on  any  question.  The  representative  must  be 
"  a  miner  or  mine  worker  or  employed  by  the  organization  " 
and  a  member  in  good  standing  of  a  local  union  in  the  district 
where  he  resides.1  The  constitution  of  the  national  union  inter- 
prets the  term  "  miner  or  mine  worker  "  as  meaning  "  any  one 
working  in  or  around  the  mines  and  a  member  of  a  local  union." 

1  Section  2,  Article  V,  of  the  constitution. 


1 6          .TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

No  member  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  occupying  a  position 
other  than  that  of  miner  or  mine  worker,  excepting  those  hold- 
ing positions  with  the  organization,  is  eligible  as  representative 
to  any  subdistrict,  district,  or  national  convention.  Special 
conventions,  the  delegates  to  which  must  possess  the  above 
qualifications,  are  provided  for  by  the  constitution. 

The  purpose  of  the  national  convention  is  to  legislate  on  any 
question  pertaining  to  the  objects  of  the  organization.  These 
objects  are  expressed  in  the  preamble  to  the  constitution. 
"  There  is  no  fact  more  generally  known  or  more  widely 
believed,"  says  this  preamble,  "than  that  without  coal  there 
would  not  have  been  any  such  grand  achievements,  privileges 
and  blessings  as  those  which  characterize  the  twentieth-century 
civilization,  and  believing  as  we  do,  that  those  whose  lot  it  is 
to  daily  toil  in  the  recesses  of  the  earth,  mining  and  putting  out 
this  coal  which  makes  these  blessings  possible,  are  entitled  to  a 
fair  and  equitable  share  of  the  same  :  therefore,  we  have  formed 
'The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,'  for  the  purpose  of  the 
more  readily  securing  the  objects  sought  by  educating  all  mine 
workers  in  America  to  realize  the  necessity  of  unity  of  action 
and  purpose,  in  demanding  and  securing  by  lawful  means  the 
just  fruits  of  our  toil."  The  objects  of  the  organization  are 
declared  to  be: 

First.  To  secure  an  earning  fully  compatible  with  the  dangers  of 
our  calling  and  the  labor  performed. 

Second.  To  establish  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  forever,  our  right 
to  receive  pay  for  labor  performed,  in  lawful  money,  and  to  rid  our- 
selves of  the  iniquitous  system  of  spending  our  money  wherever  our 
employers  see  fit  to  designate. 

Third.  To  secure  the  introduction  of  any  and  all  well-defined  and 
established  appliances  for  the  preservation  of  life,  health  and  limbs 
of  all  mine  employees. 

Fourth.  To  reduce  to  the  lowest  possible  minimum  the  awful  catas- 
trophes which  have  been  sweeping  our  fellow-craftsmen  to  untimely 
graves  by  the  thousands ;  by  securing  legislation  looking  to  the  most 
perfect  system  of  ventilation,  drainage,  etc. 

Fifth.  To  enforce  existing  laws ;  and  where  none  exist,  enact  anc 
enforce  them ;  calling  for  a  plentiful  supply  of  suitable  timber  foi 


THE  MINERS'   UNION  !7 

supporting  the  roof,  pillars,  etc.,  and  to  have  all  working  places  ren- 
dered as  free  from  water  and  impure  air  and  poisonous  gases  as 
possible. 

Sixth.  To  uncompromisingly  demand  that  eight  hours  shall  con- 
stitute a  day's  work,  and  that  not  more  than  eight  hours  shall  be 
worked  in  any  one  day  by  any  mine  worker.  The  very  nature  of  our 
employment,  shut  out  from  the  sunlight  and  pure  air,  working  by  the 
aid  of  artificial  light  (in  no  instance  to  exceed  one  candle  power), 
would,  in  itself,  strongly  indicate  that,  of  all  men,  a  coal  miner  has 
the  most  righteous  claim  to  an  eight-hour  day. 

Seventh.  To  provide  for  the  education  of  our  children  by  lawfully 
prohibiting  their  employment  until  they  have  attained  a  reasonably 
satisfactory  education,  and  in  every  case  until  they  have  attained 
fourteen  years  of  age. 

Eighth.  To  abrogate  all  laws  which  enable  coal  operators  to  cheat 
the  miners,  and  to  substitute  laws  which  enable  the  miner,  under  the 
protection  and  majesty  of  the  state,  to  have  his  coal  properly  weighed 
or  measured,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Ninth.  To  secure,  by  legislation,  weekly  payments  in  lawful 
money. 

Tenth.  To  render  it  impossible,  by  legislative  enactment  in  every 
state,  for  coal  operators  or  corporations  to  employ  Pinkerton  detect- 
ives or  guards,  or  other  forces  (except  the  ordinary  forces  of  the 
state)  to  take  armed  possession  of  the  mines  in  cases  of  strikes  or 
lockouts. 

Eleventh.  To  use  all  honorable  means  to  maintain  peace  between 
ourselves  and  employers ;  adjusting  all  differences,  so  far  as  possible, 
by  arbitration  and  conciliation,  that  strikes  may  become  unnecessary. 

The  means  for  obtaining  these  ends  are  declared  to  be  con- 
ciliation, arbitration,  or  strikes.  All  three  methods  have  been 
employed  in  the  course  of  the  union's  existence. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  national  convention,  to 
enforce  the  constitution,  and  for  the  conduct  of  the  business  of 
the  national  union,  there  arc  a  president,  a  vice  president,  a 
secretary-treasurer  and  an  executive  board,  whose  terms  of  office 
are  from  April  i  of  one  year  to  March  3 1  of  the  next.  These 
officials,  with  the  exception  of  the  executive  board,  are  nomi- 
nated by  the  local  unions  (a  candidate  must  be  nominated  by  at 
least  three  locals),  and  they  are  elected  during  the  first  week  in 


1 8  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

December  of  each  year  by  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote  of  the 
members  voting  who  are  in  good  standing  at  that  time  in  the 
national,  district,  or  local  unions.  Any  member  in  good  stand- 
ing in  the  organization  is  eligible  to  hold  office  in  the  national 
union,  provided  he  is  not  at  the  same  time  a  salaried  officer  of 
a  district  and  has  been  a  member  of  a  local  union  for  one  year 
preceding  his  election.  The  nominations  are  made  by  the  locals 
on  specially  prepared  blanks  two  months  before  the  annual 
national  convention.  Every  candidate  thus  nominated  must  be 
notified  and  his  consent  secured  before  his  name  is  placed  on 
the  ballots.  These  are  then  sent  to  the  locals  from  the  national 
offices  not  later  than  six  weeks  before  the  convention  is  to 
assemble.  Each  member  present  in  his  local  union  meeting  at 
the  time  of  the  election  has  one  vote  for  each  officer  to  be 
chosen.  Severe  penalties  are  attached  to  the  violation  by  any 
officer  or  local  union  of  the  constitutional  provisions  governing 
the  election.  Not  later  than  twenty  days  prior  to  the  national 
convention  the  ballot  of  each  local  must  be  sent  in  special 
envelopes,  sealed,  and  marked  "  election  returns,"  addressed  to 
the  national  secretary-treasurer,  and  by  this  officer  deposited  in 
an  unopened  ballot  box.  Only  the  national  auditors,  or  their 
alternates,  who  are  also  selected  by  popular  vote,  are  to  open 
this  box.  The  result  of  this  election  as  canvassed  by  them  is 
reported  to  the.  national  convention,  which  declares  elected  to 
the  respective  offices  those  candidates  receiving  the  majority  of 
the  votes  cast.  In  case  there  is  no  election  under  this  provi- 
sion, the  convention  chooses  the  national  officers,  each  delegate 
casting  by  ballot  the  number  of  votes  for  which  his  local  has 
paid  per  capita  tax. 

This  referendum  plan  for  selecting  the  officers  of  the  national 
union  became  effective  for  the  first  time  in  1902  and  is  still  to 
be  regarded  in  its  experimental  stage.  It  has  not  given  satis- 
faction, as  recent  elections  have  demonstrated  that  the  rank 
and  file  take  very  little  interest  in  balloting  for  the  candidates 
except  in  those  districts  where  strikes  are  in  progress,  or  have 
just  been  closed,  or  are  about  to  be  inaugurated.  A  scheme 
is  now  under  advisement  to  make  participation  in  the  annual 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  I9 

election  for  national  officers  compulsory  by  fining  members  who 
do  not  vote  unless  a  sufficient  excuse  can  be  given.  Formerly 
the  election  of  national  officers  was  by  delegates  to  the  national 
convention.  Under  this  plan  it  was  possible  to  elect  a  national 
officer  by  less  than  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  members  of 
the  local  unions.  It  was  also  possible  for  officers  or  candidates 
to  manipulate  the  election  or  to  form  a  combination  to  control 
the  affairs  of  the  organization  and  perpetuate  themselves  in 
power.  The  plan  of  election  by  popular  vote  was  designed  to 
obviate  these  defects. 

When  the  national  convention  is  not  in  session  all  power 
under  its  legislation  and  the  constitution  of  the  national  union 
is  vested  in  the  national  officers.  During  this  time,  which  is 
for  all  but  about  two  weeks  of  the  year,  supreme  authority  is, 
in  the  final  analysis,  in  the  hands  of  one  man,  the  national 
president.  In  case  of  conflict  of  policy  the  decision  of  the  presi- 
dent is  final.  He  has  power  to  suspend  or  remove  any  national 
officer  "for  insubordination  or  just  and  sufficient  cause"  j1  he 
temporarily  fills  all  vacancies  in  the  national  offices.  The  con- 
stitution provides  that  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  removal 
and  appointment  he  shall  have  the  consent  of  the  executive 
board,  but  he  can  suspend  or  remove  the  members  of  this 
board.  He  has  strong  influence  over  them  in  still  another  way: 
as  members  of  the  board  these  officers  receive  no  salary,  but 
nearly  all  of  them  are  paid  $4  a  day  and  expenses  as  organ- 
izers. Their  positions  as  organizers  depend  entirely  upon 
appointment  by  the  president.  Moreover,  the  president  with 
the  vice  president  and  the  secretary-treasurer  are  members  of 
the  board.  It  convenes  at  his  call  and  is  presided  over  by  him. 
He  decides  all  questions  of  dispute  concerning  the  meaning  of 
the  constitution ;  he  signs  all  bills  and  official  documents ;  he 
determines  the  salaries  of  all  employees  with  $3.50  or  less  a 
day  and  who  are  not  elected  by  the  national  convention  ;  he 
presides  at  all  national  conventions,  both  regular  and  special ; 
usually  he  presents  an  address  to  these  gatherings,  reviewing 
the  work  of  the  national  union  and  recommending  whatever 

1  Section  2,  Article  II,  of  the  constitution. 


20  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

action  he  deems  best  upon  any  question  before  the  organization. 
His  recommendations  are  generally  adopted.  He  calls  special 
national  conventions  when  instructed  by  the  executive  board 
or  requested  by  five  districts.  He  also  summons  conventions 
of  two  or  more  districts.  He  may  at  any  time,  in  person  or 
through  a  national  officer,  visit  local  unions,  district  or  sub- 
district  conventions,  and  any  other  places  connected  with  the 
organization  ;  he  may  appoint  representatives  to  examine  the 
financial  accounts  of  any  local  union  and  instruct  its  officers  in 
their  duties  ;  in  brief,  he  exercises  general  supervision  over  the 
workings  of  all  the  unions  —  local,  subdistrict,  district,  as  well 
as  national.  In  1902  he  was  paid  a  salary  of  $1800.  This 
amount  has  since  been  increased  to  $3000.  He  is  required  to 
devote  his  time  and  attention  to  the  organization. 

No  strike  can  be  ordered  by  any  district  nor  can  final  action 
be  taken  upon  any  questions  directly  or  indirectly  affecting  the 
interests  of  the  mine  workers  of  another  district  until  the 
approval  of  the  national  president  is  s.ecured  in  writing,  or,  if 
he  disapproves,  until  favorable  action  upon  an  appeal  from  his 
decision  has  been  taken  by  the  executive  board.  An  exception 
to  this,  of  course,  occurs  in  case  the  strike  or  action  has  been 
ordered  by  the  national  convention.  Local  strikes  are  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  district  officers.  Together  with  the  other 
national  officers  the  president  has  the  power  to  order  a  suspen- 
sion of  mining  operations  by  members  of  the  union  in  any  dis- 
trict or  districts  where  such  action  is  deemed  advisable  for  the 
settlement  of  a  strike  in  another  district  or  for  the  good  of  the 
union.  The  national  officers  form  districts  and  assign  to  them 
the  number  of  men  and  the  extent  of  territory  they  are  to  have 
jurisdiction  over;  and  they  may  at  any  time  change  the  bound- 
ary and  jurisdiction  of  any  district. 

The  vesting  of  such  great  power  by  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  in  the  hands  of  one  man  is  due  primarily 
to  the  exigencies  of  strike  times  when  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses the  union  becomes  a  military  organization  in  the  control 
of  which  there  must  not  be  the  least  possibility  of  divided  lead- 
ership. Labor  unions  have  been  taught  through  sad  experience, 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  21 

and  none  more  so  than  the  United  Mine  Workers,  that  an 
industrial  army  moving  for  higher  wages  and  better  conditions 
of  employment  must  have  but  one  commander  in  chief  if  the 
possibility  of  defeat  is  to  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  president  in  the  conduct  of  the 
national  union  is  the  executive  board.  This  board  is  in  a 
sense  the  organization's  board  of  directors.  It  is  composed  of 
one  member  from  each  district.  Unlike  the  selection  of  the 
president,  the  members  of  this  board  are  not  chosen  directly  by 
the  local  unions,  but  by  the  district  conventions  made  up  of 
delegates  elected  by  the  locals — somewhat  like  the  choosing  of 
United  States  senators  by  state  legislatures.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  twenty-three  members,  one  each  from  the  twenty 
districts  throughout  the  country,  and  the  president,  vice  presi- 
dent, and  secretary-treasurer  who  are  members  ex  officio.  This 
makes  the  board  too  large  and  unwieldy  for  expediting  business 
and  recently,  with  the  rapid  spread  of  the  union  and  the  conse- 
quent increase  in  the  number  of  districts,  this  question  has 
come  to  be  a  very  serious  one  to  the  officers  of  the  organization. 
It  is  more  than  probable  that  before  long  some  other  plan  for 
selecting  the  board  members  will  be  substituted.  Formerly 
the  national  convention  elected  the  six  or  eight  members  of  the 
board.  Another  objection  to  the  board  as  at  present  con- 
stituted is  that  each  member  has  one  vote  in  its  deliberations. 
This  gives  to  a  district  having  only  2000  members  (such  as 
District  16  in  Maryland)  as  much  voting  influence  as  a  district 
having  75,000  mine  workers  (such  as  District  I  in  the  anthra- 
cite region  of  Pennsylvania).  This  makes  it  possible  for  board 
members  representing  but  20  per  cent  of  the  total  membership 
to  determine  the  policy  of  the  national  union  when  the  conven- 
tion is  not  in  session.  The  evil  of  this  defect  is  somewhat 
lessened  in  its  scope  by  the  constitutional  provision  making 
necessary  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of  the  members  of  the  board  before 
a  general  strike  or  national  suspension  order  can  be  issued,  and 
by  the  power  of  suspension  and  removal  lodged  with  the  presi- 
dent. The  evil  of  this  inequality  in  the  voting  strength  of  the 
districts  in  the  board  has  been  made  still  less  serious  as  a  result 


22  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  the  anthracite  strike  in  1902.  In  the  convention  of  1903 
following  that  memorable  struggle,  President  Mitchell  in  his 
annual  address  said  on  this  point :  "  Our  membership  in  the 
anthracite  fields  represents  practically  40  per  cent  of  the  total 
membership  of  the  organization,  while  the  voting  strength  of 
the  three  members  of  the  national  executive  board  from  the 
anthracite  field  is  only  about  I  5  per  cent  of  the  voting  strength 
of  the  national  organization  on  the  executive  board."  He 
stated  that  he  did  not  believe  any  advantage  would  be  taken  of 
this  disproportionate  representation,  "  but  in  order  to  overcome 
what  appears  to  be  a  plausible  objection  on  the  part  of  the 
anthracite  railway  presidents  to  recognition  of  our  union,  I 
should  recommend  that  upon  the  question  of  inaugurating  a 
strike  in  the  anthracite  field  the  anthracite  members  of  the 
national  executive  board  be  given  equal  voting  power  with  the 
members  of  the  executive  board  from  the  bituminous  fields. 
Upon  all  other  questions  the  voting  strength  of  the  members 
of  the  board  may  remain  as  at  present."  This  recommendation 
of  the  president  was  adopted  by  the  convention  in  -passing  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution  providing  that  each  member  in 
the  executive  board,  in  voting  on  the  question  of  a  general 
strike  or  suspension,  "shall  have  one  vote,  and  one  additional 
vote  for  every  5000  members  in  good  standing  they  represent, 
or  a  majority  fraction  thereof." 

This  executive  board,  including  the  president,  wields  power 
next  in  importance  to  that  of  the  national  convention  ;  in  fact, 
it  executes  the  orders  of  the  national  convention  and  between 
conventions  exercises  full  power  to  direct  the  workings  of  the 
national  union,  including  the  levying  and  collecting  of  assess- 
ments. Not  only  does  it  have  the  power  to  order  a  general 
strike  or  suspension,  but  it  can  overrule  upon  appeal  the  deci- 
sions of  district  officers  upon  questions  affecting  strikes  within 
the  district.  It  is  also  a  court  of  appeal  upon  questions  affect- 
ing the  interests  of  two  or  more  districts,  excepting  in  those 
cases  where  the  national  convention  has  taken  action.  The 
board  convenes  upon  the  order  of  the  president,  its  presiding 
officer  or  chairman,  or  of  the  secretary-treasurer  at  the  request 


THE  MINERS'  UNION 


23 


of  eleven  of  its  members.  It  may  at  any  time  instruct  the 
president  to  call  a  special  national  convention.  It  holds  in 
trust  for  the  national  union  all  moneys  in  the  treasury  over 
$15,000.  Among  its  other  duties  is  that  of  a  national  board 
of  conciliation  and  arbitration. 

Nearly  all  the  members  of  the  executive  board  are  employed 
by  the  president  as  national  organizers.  As  such  they  receive 
$4  a  day  and  expenses.  These  are  the  "walking  delegates." 
They  bear  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  are  always  to  be  found  in  the 
thickest  of  it,  and  generally  constitute  the  advance  guard  of  the 
field  force  of  the  organization  when  an  invasion  of  territory 
heretofore  unorganized  is  decided  upon.  They  are  the  mission- 
aries of  the  new  doctrine  as  to  the  rights  of  man ;  they  usually 
are  compelled  to  blaze  it  forth  to  their  kind  in  a  wilderness  of 
conflicting  passions  and  class  hatreds ;  they  are  met  with  sus- 
picion and  bitter  antagonism  even  from  those  they  would  save 
from  industrial  servitude.  These  organizers  are  of  many  tongues ; 
they  go  among  strange  peoples  from  many  climes.  They  teach 
their  doctrine  of  unionism  alike  to  the  Negro,  the  Slav,  the 
Lithuanian,  the  Greek,  the  German,  the  Englishman,  and  the 
American.  Through  months  and  even  years  of  bitter  antago- 
nism, of  almost  crushing  opposition,  they  work  patiently  at 
their  tasks  to  bring  the  many  nationalities  into  the  organiza- 
tion and  to  mold  the  heterogeneous  mass  into  unity  of  belief 
and  action.  Fearless  and  undaunted  they  bear  persecution  and 
suffer  imprisonment  and  even  death  for  the  faith  that  is  in 
them.  However  far  apart  one's  views  may  be  from  the  ends 
and  objects  professed  by  these  organizers,  if  he  could  but  see 
the  spirit  of  martyrdom  often  exhibited  by  them,  he  would 
believe,  as  the  writer  does,  that  they  are  performing  a  real  and 
a  lasting  work  as  pioneers  in  the  formation  of  our  industrial 
state. 

These  organizers,  going  into  coal  fields  whose  mine  workers 
are  outside  the  national  union,  begin  their  task  by  getting  into 
personal  touch  with  the  men.  They  stop  them  on  the  street 
corners,  visit  the  places  in  which  they  are  in  the  habit  of  con- 
gregating, distribute  among  them  tracts  containing  information 


24  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

about  the  organization,  and  in  various  other  ways  plant  the  idea 
of  unionism  in  the  minds  of  a  few  of  the  men.  From  these  few 
it  spreads,  at  first  almost  unobservably,  until  gradually  more 
and  more  of  the  workers  begin  talking  about  "the  union,"  and 
by  degrees  nearly  all  the  employees  of  the  mine,  or  where  the 
mines  are  in  close  proximity  the  employees  of  a  number  of 
mines,  are  discussing  the  objects  and  benefits  of  organiza- 
tion. When  he  thinks  the  time  opportune  the  organizer  calls  a 
meeting  of  those  he  believes  interested  in  the  movement  and 
organizes  them  into  a  local  union.  They  secure  a  charter  and 
other  supplies  from  the  national  headquarters  for  $15  and  are 
assigned  a  number  by  which  the  local  is  to  be  officially  known. 
In  some  cases  the  jurisdiction  of  a  local  extends  to  two  or  more 
collieries  or  mines,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  confined  to  the  employees 
of  a  single  mine.  Where  a  mining  plant  employs  several  thou- 
sand men  they  are  organized  into  a  number  of  locals,  usually 
according  to  nationality  or  language,  or,  in  case  they  are  scat- 
tered in  nearby  mining  towns,  to  place  of  residence. 

Once  the  national  union  gains  a  foothold  in  a  coal  field  its 
spread  is  rapid  or  slow,  depending  upon  the  particular  condi- 
tions encountered.  Miners,  mine  laborers,  and  other  workmen, 
skilled  and  unskilled,  employed  in  and  about  the  mine,  except- 
ing the  mine  manager  and  the  top  boss,  may  join  its  ranks.  No 
one  is  excluded  because  of  race,  color,  or  nationality.  Each 
member  is  expected  to  pay  twenty-five  cents  a  month  as  dues 
and  whatever  assessments  are  levied.  He  is  provided  with  a 
"  due  card  "  upon  which  the  amounts  paid  by  him  are  entered. 
This  card  is  his  evidence  of  membership.  (In  some  coal  fields,  — 
in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania  for  example,  —  where 
the  union  is  not  recognized  by  the  operators,  the  members  wear 
buttons  in  the  lapels  of  their  coats  as  indicating  membership 
in  the  organization.)  Provision  is  made  for  issuing  transfer 
cards  when  members  go  from  one  mine  to  another.  Local 
unions  are  compelled  to  accept  all  properly  made  out  transfer 
cards  and  must  admit  the  holder  to  membership  provided  he 
has  been  a  member  of  the  organization  for  at  least  three 
months.  No  member  in  good  standing  who  holds  a  due  or 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  25 

transfer  card  "  shall  be  debarred  or  hindered  from  obtaining 
work  on  account  of  race,  creed,  or  nationality."  l  When  any 
member  is  suspended  or  discharged  from  his  place  at  the  mine 
a  committee  of  the  local  (the  mine  committee)  makes  an  investi- 
gation, and  if  it  finds  that  the  member  is  not  guilty  of  an  offense 
justifying  his  discharge,  the  grievance  is  reported  in  writing  to 
the  subdistrict  and  district  presidents  ;  if  these  upon  investiga- 
tion find  the  report  of  the  committee  to  be  correct,  it  is  made 
their  duty  to  insist  upon  the  reinstatement  of  the  suspended 
or  discharged  member.  Members  of  the  locals  elect  their  own 
officers  every  six  months  and  legislate  for  their  own  particular 
area,  subject  to  the  constitutions  of  the  national,  district,  and 
subdistrict  unions.  Each  local  is  compelled  to  become  a  part 
of  the  subdistrict  located  within  its  district  and  to  contribute 
to  it  before  the  local  can  secure  representation  in  either  the 
district  or  the  national  union,  and  to  secure  the  benefits  of  the 
national  union  the  local  must  at  all  times  be  in  good  standing 
with  the  national,  district,  and  subdistrict  unions.  All  locals 
three  months  or  more  in  arrears  for  dues  or  assessments  are 
published  each  month  by  the  national  secretary-treasurer.  This 
is  called  the  "  unfair  list "  by  the  locals  in  good  standing. 

It  is  in  the  local  union  that  strikes  usually  have  their  origin. 
Its  members  are  the  workers  in  and  about  the  mines  and  are 
the  first  to  feel  the  effects  of  the  adverse  conditions  of  employ- 
ment which  give  rise  to  grievances.  Whenever  any  difference 
arises  between  the  members  of  a  local  and  their  employers  it  is 
made  the  duty  of  the  officers  of  that  local  to  endeavor  to  effect 
an  amicable  adjustment,  and  failing  in  this  to  notify  the  officers 
of  the  district  having  jurisdiction  over  the  particular  local.  If 
the  district  officers  after  an  investigation  of  the  cause  of  the 
complaint  fail  to  effect  a  peaceable  settlement  "  on  a  basis  that 
would  be  fair  and  just  to  aggrieved  members,"  2  and  find  that  a 
strike  would  best  serve  the  interests  of  the  particular  locality, 
they  may  order  the  inauguration  of  a  strike.  The  local  has  the 
right  of  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  district  officers  to  the 

1  Section  3,  Article  VII,  of  the  constitution. 

2  Section  i,  Article  X,  of  the  constitution. 


26  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

national  executive  board.  Local  strikes  not  approved  by  the 
district  officers  or  the  national  executive  board  are  not  supported 
by  the  district,  and  any  local  union  striking  in  violation  of  these 
provisions  may  be  refused  recognition  by  the  national  officers. 
In  fact,  such  unauthorized  action  on  the  part  of  a  local  union 
has  resulted  in  its  being  deprived  of  its  charter.  Suspension 
of  local  unions  has  occurred  on  several  occasions  during  the 
past  five  or  six  years.  The  charter  of  a  local  union  at  Saline- 
ville,  Ohio,  was  revoked  in  1902  because  it  engaged  in  a  strike 
disapproved  by  the  national  officers. 

No 'district  can  take  final  action  upon  questions  that  directly 
or  indirectly  affect  the  interests  of  the  mine  workers  of  another 
district  or  that  require  a  strike  to  determine  until  the  president 
and  secretary  of  the  aggrieved  district  "  shall  jointly  prepare, 
sign,  and  forward  to  the  national  president  a  written  statement 
setting  forth  the  grievances  complained  of,  the  action  contem- 
plated by  the  district,  together  with  the  reasons  therefor,  and 
the  national  president  shall,  within  five  days  after  the  receipt 
of  such  statement,  either  approve  or  disapprove  of  the  action 
contemplated  by  the  aggrieved  district,  and  such  approval  or 
disapproval,  together  with  the  reasons  therefor,  shall  be  made 
in  writing,  and  a  copy  forwarded  to  the  secretary  of  the  com- 
plaining district.  Should  the  action  contemplated  by  the 
aggrieved  district  receive  the  approval  of  the  national  presi- 
dent, the  district  shall  be  free  to  act,  but  should  the  national 
president 'disapprove  the  action  contemplated,  the  district  may 
appeal  to  the  National  Executive  Board,  which  shall  be  con- 
vened to  consider  such  appeal  within  five  days  after  its  receipt 
by  the  national  secretary.  Until  the  national  president  has 
approved,  or  the  National  Executive  Board  has  sustained  the 
appeal,  no  district  shall  be  free  to  enter  upon  a  strike  unless  it 
shall  have  been  ordered  by  a  national  convention."  l  .  .  .  "The 
national  officers  shall,  at  any  time  they  deem  it  to  the  best 
interest  of  mine  workers  in  a  district  that  is  idle,  for  just  and 
sufficient  reasons,  order  a  suspension  in  any  other  district  or 
districts  that  would  in  any  way  impede  the  settlement  of  the 

1  Section  2,  Article  X,  of  the  constitution. 


THE  MINERS'  UNION 


27 


district  affected :  provided,  that  such  action  would  conserve  to 
the  best  interest  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America."  1 

As  the  machinery  for  the  inauguration  of  a  strike  is  first  put 
in  motion  by  the  local  union,  so  does  the  success  of  the  strike 
depend  to  a  large  degree  upon  the  support  given  by  the  locals, 
not  only  by  those  whose  members  happen  to  be  on  strike  but 
by  those  in  other  fields  whose  members  remain  at  work.  The 
members  of  the  locals  constitute  the  rank  and  file  of  the  organ- 
ization :  they  are  the  privates,  corporals,  and  sergeants  of  the 
great  army  of  mine  workers  moving  toward  an  improvement  in 
the  conditions  of  their  employment.  In  peace  times  they  pre- 
pare the  organization  for  strikes  by  contributing  in  dues  and 
assessments  to  the  district  and  national  unions  besides  provid- 
ing for  their  own  local  treasuries.  So  well  did  they  do  this  in 
1902  that  immediately  upon  the  special  national  convention 
issuing  its  appeal  for  relief  to  carry  on  the  anthracite  mine 
workers'  strike,  District  12  (Illinois)  contributed  $50,000  from 
its  treasury,  District  8  (Indiana)  $10,000,  District  1 1  (Indi- 
ana) $8000,  District  13  (Iowa)  $5000,  District  2  (Central 
Pennsylvania)  $3,259.50,  and  Districts  25  (Missouri)  and  20 
(Alabama)  $1000  each.  Only  a  month  before  this  appeal  was 
issued  District  12  (Illinois)  had  contributed  $50,000  for  the 
conduct  of  the  strike  in  the  two  Virginias,  making  $100,000 
from  one  district  alone  within  two  months  for  carrying  on 
strikes.  Besides  the  districts  the  subdistricts  and  locals  in  all 
the  organized  coal  producing  states  contributed  in  the  aggre- 
gate a  large  sum  from  their  respective  treasuries  to  prosecute 
the  strike  of  the  anthracite  miners. 

Under  the  constitution  every  local  union  is  required  to  pay 
into  the  national  treasury  a  per  capita  tax  of  ten  cents  a  month 
for  each  member  and  such  additional  assessments  as  may  be 
levied  by  the  national  executive  board.  Boys  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  are  regarded  as  half  members  and  pay  one  half  as 
much  tax  and  assessment  as  full  members.  In  the  deliberations 
of  the  local  each  boy  member  has  one  half  a  vote.  These  dues 
and  assessments  from  the  locals  form  the  principal  sources  of 

1  Section  3,  Article  X,  of  the  constitution. 


28  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

income  for  the  national  union.  When  a  strike  of  unusual  pro- 
portions is  in  progress  contributions  from  other  labor  organiza- 
tions and  from  the  general  public  increase  the  funds  in  the 
national  treasury.  The  important  part  these  play  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  organization  was  shown  during  the  six  months' 
strike  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania  in  1902.  To 
carry  on  that  struggle  alone,  not  including  the  expenses  accom- 
panying the  strike  of  mine  workers  in  progress  at  the  same 
time  in  the  Virginias,  the  various  unions  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  voluntarily  donated  $258,344  and  the 
members  of  the  organization  paid  in  special  assessments 
$1,967,026,  a  total  of  $2,225,370.  This  is  more  impressive 
when  it  is  remembered  that  more  than  one  half  of  the  members 
of  the  union,  including  the  147,000  anthracite  mine  workers, 
were  on  strike,  and  in  consequence  made  no  contributions  to 
the  defense  fund.  From  the  trade  unions  and  the  general 
public  $419,954  was  contributed.  The  total  amount  paid  by 
the  United  Mine  Workers  for  strike  purposes  from  January  i 
to  December  31,  1902,  was  $1,889,202.  This  included  the  cost 
of  smaller  strikes  in  seven  districts  besides  the  ones  in  the 
three  anthracite  districts  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  district  cov- 
ering the  two  Virginias.  A  total  of  184,000  mine  workers  in 
the  United  States  were  on  strike  for  two  months  and  160,000 
for  five  months  during  1902.  In  that  year  the  total  income  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  was  $3,010,877.82,  and 
the  total  expenditures  $2,080,805.44.  At  the  beginning  of 
1903  there  was  a  balance  in  the  national  treasury  of  the  union 
of  $i, 027,120. 29.1 

All  this  indicates  the  importance  of  the  financial  organization 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America.  This  constitutes  one 
of  the  strongest  features  of  the  national  union.  At  its  head  is 
the  secretary-treasurer,  nominated  and  elected  directly  by  the 
vote  of  the  members  of  the  local  unions.  He  conducts  all  the 
business  of  the  organization  concerning  the  management  of 
national  headquarters,  having  charge  of  all  books,  documents, 
and  effects  ;  supervises  the  Mine  Workers'  Journal,  the  official 

1  Report  national  secretary-treasurer,  1903. 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  29 

weekly  organ  of  the  union  ;  receives  all  moneys  and  pays  all  bills, 
excepting  when  the  president  orders  otherwise  and  providing 
that  not  over  $15,000  is  subject  to  the  secretary-treasurer's 
order  at  any  one  time.  All  sums  over  this  amount  are  deposited 
by  him  to  the  credit  of  the  executive  board,  and  to  draw  upon 
these  a  written  order  of  two  thirds  of  the  board  members  is 
necessary.  He  is  required  to  give  a  bond  of  $25,000.  His 
yearly  salary  in  1902  was  $1500  and  expenses,  but  it  has  since 
been  increased  to  $2500  and  expenses.  As  a  rule  he  reports 
quarterly  to  the  locals  the  condition  of  the  national  treasury. 

Over  all  the  sources  of  revenue  and  expenditure  the  national 
secretary-treasurer  enforces  strict  discipline  with  severe  penal- 
ties for  violations  of  the  rules.  Each  secretary  of  a  local  is 
required  by  the  national  constitution  to  fill  out  and  forward  to 
the  national  and  district  secretary-treasurers  before  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  each  month  a  report  of  all  members  in  good  standing 
in  that  local  on  the  first  day  of  that  month,  together  with  all 
taxes  and  assessments  due  from  it  to  the  national  and  district 
officers.  For  a  violation  of  this  provision  a  local  union  is  sub- 
ject to  suspension  from  all  privileges  or  benefits  until  the  defi- 
ciency is  made  good.  To  keep  a  check  on  these  reports  the 
local  secretary  must  inform  the  national  office  of  the  amount  of 
money  paid  and  the  number  of  members  reported  to  the  district 
secretary,  and  must  send  the  same  statement  to  the  district 
office.  He  is  required  to  certify  that  such  report  is  for  the  full 
number  of  members  in  good  standing  in  the  local.  Despite 
these  constitutional  provisions  not  a  few  of  the  locals  fail  to 
report  the  full  number  of  members  in  good  standing,  excepting 
about  the  time  of  the  national  convention,  and  they  do  it  then 
in  order  to  secure  in  the  convention  as  large  a  voting  repre- 
sentation as  possible.  The  reason  for  their  not  making  the  full 
report  is  generally  traced  to  the  desire  of  the  locals  to  have 
their  own  treasuries  well  filled  in  order  to  meet  their  own 
particular  wants.  Some  of  the  locals  have  in  this  way  succeeded 
in  purchasing  ground  and  erecting  a  building  for  their  head- 
quarters. All  financial  officers  of  the  local  unions  are  required 
to  give  a  bond  "for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties." 


30  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

It  sometimes  happens,  however,  that  officers  prove  faithless  to 
their  trust  and  abscond  with  the  moneys.  The  national  union 
makes  efforts  to  have  them  arrested  and  punished,  but  it  does 
not  always  succeed. 

If  the  members  of  a  local  are  idle  for  one  month  or  more, 
they  are  exonerated  from  the  payment  of  the  per  capita  tax 
and  assessments  until  they  resume  work.  This  condition  may 
occur  through  a  mine  being  abandoned  or  idle  for  repairs,  by 
reason  of  a  strike,  or  other  causes.  But  to  secure  such  exoner- 
ation a  request,  signed  by  the  president,  secretary,  and  mine 
committee,  must  be  approved  by  the  district  and  national  secre- 
taries each  month,  in  place  of  the  regular  monthly  financial  report, 
as  long  as  the  members  are  idle.  In  case  the  local  union  is  in 
arrears  for  two  months  preceding  the  one  in  which  the  con- 
vention is  held,  or  has  not  in  every  particular  complied  with  the 
constitution  of  its  district,  or  has  less  than  ten  members,  it  is 
not  entitled  to  representation  in  the  national  convention. 

So  well  organized  are  the  financial  features  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  that  the  national  union  was  able  to 
carry  on  a  widespread  system  of  relief  to  the  needy  anthracite 
mine  workers  during  the  closing  two  months  of  the  1902  strike. 
In  this  relief  work  no  distinction  was  made  between  union  and 
nonunion  men.  In  fact,  the  testimony  of  many  witnesses  is  to 
the  effect  that  aid  was  furnished  as  freely  to  the  nonunion  as 
to  the  union  mine  workers.  For  this  relief  work  the  members 
of  the  locals  were  organized  into  committees  of  various  kinds. 
Applications  for  relief  were  investigated  by  one  of  these  com- 
mittees, and  if  conditions  were  found  as  represented,  orders  for 
merchandise  on  local  grocers  were  furnished.  On  the  face  of 
the  order  was  stated  the  amount  for  which  it  was  drawn  ;  on 
the  reverse  side  were  blanks  for  the  dates,  name,  quantity,  and 
price  of  the  articles  purchased.  Both  the  merchant  and  pur- 
chaser signed  the  order  when  goods  to  its  face  value  had  been 
bought,  and  then  returned  it  to  the  committee,  which  presented 
it  to  the  district  secretary-treasurer  for  payment.  This  officer 
then  secured  direct  from  national  headquarters  the  necessary 
amount  to  pay  the  bills.  In  some  parts  of  the  Schuylkill  field  it 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  31 

was  found  necessary  for  the  union  to  establish  commissaries 
and  furnish  the  needy  with  food  direct  from  its  own  supplies. 
In  some  parts  of  the  West  Virginia  field,  while  the  strike  there 
was  in  progress,  scores  of  tents  were  erected  in  the  woods  for 
sheltering  strikers  who  were  driven  from  their  homes.  Food 
and  clothing  bought  in  carload  lots  by  the  national  union  were 
shipped  from  the  large  cities  to  the  disturbed  districts  and 
distributed  among  the  strikers. 

Not  only  does  the  financial  feature  of  the  organization  indi- 
cate that  the  United  Mine  Workers  is  founded  upon  business 
principles,  but  there  is  still  another  phase  of  the  work  of  the 
national  union  which  more  strongly  emphasizes  this  statement. 
This  is  the  holding  of  an  annual  joint  conference  with  repre- 
sentatives of  the  operators  and  coal  mining  companies  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  the  Pittsburg  field  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
these  conferences  labor  is  regarded  as  a  commodity,  and  the 
possessor  of  this  labor  —  the  mine  worker  —  is  accorded  the 
right  through  representatives  of  the  union  to  " bargain"  with 
representatives  of  the  purchasers  of  that  labor  —  the  coal-min- 
ing companies  —  for  the  price  of  his  labor  and  the  conditions 
under  which  it  is  to  be  sold.  This  joint-conference  movement  in 
these  four  states  dates  its  beginning  in  1885,  although  there 
have  been  periods  since  then  when  it  was  inoperative.1  The 
periods  when  it  was  not  in  force  were  years  of  depression  in 
the  coal  trade,  accompanying  general  industrial  paralysis.  The 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America  had  come  into  existence  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  January,  1890,  by  the  amalgamation  of  the 
Progressive  Union  and  the  National  Trades  Assembly,  No.  135, 
Knights  of  Labor,  both  of  which  o'rganizations  had  claimed 
jurisdiction  over  the  mine  workers  of  the  country  and  between 
whom  there  had  been  bitter  and  open  hostility.  To  this  divi- 
sion in  the  ranks  of  the  mine  workers  and  to  the  fact  that 
the  young  organization  was  for  a  time  too  weak  and  adverse 

1  For  a  complete  and  detailed  account  of  the  origin  and  operation  of  the  Inter- 
state Joint  Conference  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  author's  article,  "  The  Union 
Movement  among  Coal  Mine  Workers,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  March,  1904,  No.  51- 


32  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

conditions  were  too  strong  is  partly  due  the  failure  to  hold 
the  joint  conferences  at  intervals  preceding  1898.  They  were 
restored  after  the  genera]  suspension  of  soft-coal  mining  in 
eight  of  the  states  in  1897  and  have  been  held  annually  since 
then.  In  Iowa,  Kansas,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
Alabama  annual  joint  agreements  are  also  signed  between 
representatives  of  the  mine  workers  and  of  the  operators  in 
each  state.  The  conferences  in  the  six  last-named  states  are 
held  separately  and  are  not  a  part  of  the  so-called  interstate 
agreement  of  the  central  competitive  district.  The  agreements 
entered  into,  however,  cover  in  general  the  same  specific  points, 
stating  the  wages  that  are  to  prevail  along  with  specified  condi- 
tions of  employment. 

Through  these  contracts  and  agreements  not  a  .few  of  the 
objects  of  the  national  union  have  been  attained  and  undoubtedly 
better  conditions  of  employment  have  been  secured  for  the  mine 
workers  in  the  states  where  they  are  in  effect.  Since  the 
great  strike  of  1897  the  United  Mine  Workers  has  extended  the 
eight-hour  workday  into  the  mines  of  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Michigan,  Kentucky,  and  parts  of  Tennessee,  and  has  secured 
for  the  mine  employees  of  those  states  increases  in  wages 
ranging  from  13  to  over  30  per  cent.  Increases  in  the  wages 
of  mine  workers  in  other  states  have  also  been  secured  through 
joint  conventions  with  the  operators,  and  increases  in  wages 
with  improved  conditions  of  employment  were  forced  from  the 
railroad  mining  companies  and  independent  operators  in  the 
three  hard-coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania  in  1900  and  1902.  Arbi- 
tration of  the  questions  in  dispute  between  the  anthracite  mine 
wc/kers  and  the  operators  by  a  commission  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  was  also  forced  upon  the  hard- 
coal  mining  interests.  Since  1898  the  membership  of  the 
national  union  has  increased  from  43,000  to  nearly  300,000. 
Of  this  total  membership  about  185,000  mine  employees,  pro- 
ducing annually  125,000,000  tons  of  bituminous  coal,  or  over 
one  third  of  the  total  coal  production  of  the  United  States, 
now  work  under  agreements.  Many  of  the  147,000  anthracite 
mine  workers  are  strongly  organized  in  the  national  union,  but 


THE  MINERS'  UNION 


33 


as  yet  they  have  been  unable  to  secure  agreements  from  the  coal- 
hauling  railroads  which  virtually  control  the  mining  operations. 
These  hard-coal  miners  produce  annually  about  60,000,000  tons. 
The  remaining  1  15,000  mine  workers  of  the  country,  producing 
annually  about  100,000,000  tons  of  bituminous  coal  and  em- 
ployed principally  in  the  states  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  in 
West  Virginia,  Virginia,  Michigan,  Maryland,  and  in  central  and 
western  Pennsylvania,  are  as  yet  unorganized  in  the  United 
Mine  Workers  and  have  no  agreements  with  their  employers. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  management  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America  is  as  much  of  a  business  as 
is  the  conduct  of  any  of  the  great  industrial  or  commercial 
enterprises  of  the  present  day.  It  directs  its  strength  against 
those  forces  tending  to  keep  down  the  price  of  its  commodity, 
mine  labor,  with  as  much  regard  for  its  own  particular  interests 
and  in  disregard  of  the  interests  of  others  where  and  when 
these  conflict  as  does  any  of  the  industrial  or  other  trusts.  In 
order  to  control  the  price  of  mine  labor  it  aims  to  prevent  mine 
workers  from  selling  their  labor  at  a  lower  price  than  that  set 
by  the  union.  It  does  this  by  taking  them  into  the  organiza- 
tion and  persuading  them  to  sell  their  labor  at  union  prices, 
or  by  driving  them  out  of  the  industry,  just  as  the  great  steel 
trust  endeavors  to  absorb  or  destroy  the  independent  steel 
manufacturer,  or  as  the  sugar  trust  attempts  to  control  or 
drive  out  the  independent  refiner.  The  mine  worker,  refusing 
from  one  cause  or  another  to  be  governed  by  the  union  in  the 
sale  of  his  labor,  is  the  independent  producer  of  mine  labor,  or 
the  nonunion  man.  In  driving  out  the  commodity  he  has  to 
sell,  the  union  is  forced  to  attack  the  individual,  as  it  is  impos- 
sible to  dissociate  the  one  from  the  other.  In  consequence  vio- 
lence and  bloodshed  result.  Not  only  does  the  union  attempt 
in  various  ways  to  control  this  independent  producer  of  mine 
labor  in  the  selling  of  his  commodity,  but,  not  unlike  the  so-called* 
trusts,  in  fixing  the  price  of  this  labor  and  the  conditions  under 
which  it  is  to  be  sold,  if  it  feels  itself  strong  enough  it  brooks 
no  interference  from  other  organizations  which  have  mine  labor 
to  sell.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  United  Mine  Workers 


OF  THE. 

f    UNIVERSITY   ) 


34  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

practically  driving  out  of  the  anthracite  fields  of  Pennsylvania 
the  separate  organizations  of  blacksmiths,  engineers,  carpenters, 
and  firemen  which  existed  in  one  or  more  of  the  three  fields 
prior  to  the  recent  strikes.  We  see  it  again  in  the  union's 
steady  absorption  of  the  mine  employees  in  the  coal-producing 
states  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  most  of  whom  have  been 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
an  organization  composed  principally  of  quartz  miners,  and  the 
Western  Labor  Union.  If  it  ever  becomes  necessary  in  order 
to  attain  its  objects,  or  once  attained,  to  prevent  these  objects 
being  lost,  the  same  absorption  by  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
the  coal  miners  of  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  may  be  looked  for. 
Trade  unionism  under  the  stimulus  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  has  come  to  be  a  business  operation  on  a 
large  scale.  As  a  business  its  success  depends  upon  the  close 
observance  of  market  conditions  and  the  obeying  of  laws  gov- 
erning those  conditions.  Most  trusts  deal  with  material  com- 
modities —  goods  that  have  no  feeling  or  mode  of  independent 
action.  They  are  thus  able  usually  not  only  to  increase  the 
price  of  their  particular  commodity  on  a  rising  market,  but,  if 
they  so  wish,  to  reduce  prices  on  a  falling  market.  With  the 
trade  union  the  difference  is  that  it  deals  with  a  commodity 
possessed  by  an  individual  with  feelings  and  sympathies  and 
modes  of  independent  action.  The  general  experience  has  been 
that  when  a  period  of  falling  prices  sets  in  the  possessor  of 
mine  labor  objects  strongly  to  reducing  the  price  of  his  labor. 
The  past  teaches  us  that  he  persists  stubbornly,  even  against 
the  advice  of  the  leader  of  his  union,  in  his  refusal  to  reduce 
his  wages  and  will  go  to  the  extent  of  striking  against  such 
reduction.  The  trade  union  also  confronts  great  difficulties  in 
raising  the  price  of  its  commodity  on  rising  markets,  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  consumers  of  labor,  unlike  the  con- 
sumers of  most  trust  commodities,  are  strongly  organized.  The 
part  of  the  intelligent  labor  leader  (of  the  business  manager  of 
labor)  is  closely  to  observe  the  conditions  of  the  labor  and  gen- 
eral markets  and  all  factors  likely  to  affect  the  wages  of  the 
worker  (the  price  of  labor)  and  to  direct  his  organization  along 


THE  MINERS'  UNION  35 

the  lines  they  indicate  as  the  proper  course.  A  study  of  such 
conditions  is  provided  for  in  the  constitution  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  by  giving  to  the  president,  with  the  consent  of 
the  executive  board,  the  power  to  appoint  a  man  whose  duty  it 
is  to  collect  and  compile  statistics  on  production,  distribution, 
consumption,  freight  rates,  market  conditions,  and  any  other 
matter  of  interest  connected  with  the  coal  trade  likely  to  affect 

wages. 

FRANK  JULIAN  WARNE. 


[A  remarkable  and  very  unusual  instance  of  the  intelligent  labor  leadership 
called  for  in  the  concluding  paragraph  of  the  foregoing  article  was  the  reduction 
of  wages  in  the  bituminous  field  accepted  by  referendum  vote  of  the  union  in 
1904.  On  account  of  falling  markets  the  operators  had  demanded  a  reduction  of 
10  per  cent  in  the  prices  for  mining,  but  after  prolonged  conference  they  agreed 
to  accept  a  reduction  of  5^  per  cent.  The  union  throughout  the  country  was 
obstinately  opposed  to  any  reduction,  and  the  revulsion  against  the  action  of  their 
president  in  recommending  and  urging  the  acceptance  of  the  operators'  proposi- 
tion showed  itself  in  bitter  and  outspoken  denunciation.  Throughout  his  home 
town  and  elsewhere  his  picture  was  turned  to  the  wall.  But  he  and  the  executive 
board  carried  through  their  campaign  of  education,  and  finally  the  referendum 
vote  sustained  their  position,  and  thus  saved  the  industry  from  a  general  strike. 
This  unusual  evidence  of  business  sagacity  on  the  part  of  a  union  adds  interest 
to  the  detailed  account  of  its  business  management  as  well  as  the  trade-agreement 
system  which  made  such  an  outcome  possible.  —  ED.] 


Ill 

THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  * 

Only  since  the  year  1902  have  the  teamsters  of  Chicago 
discovered  their  power.  They  have  always  been  classed  as 
unskilled  labor,  and  the  old-line  trade  unionist  ridiculed  and 
discouraged  the  organizers  who  ventured  to  create  a  teamsters' 
union.  The  skilled  unions  saw  the  strategic  position  of  the 
teamster,  and  the  brewery  workers  made  some  of  the  brewery 
drivers  a  part  of  their  "industrial"  union.  But  the  driver  felt 
that  they  wanted  him,  not  to  help  him,  but  to  help  themselves. 
Only  when  he  broke  away  and  organized  his  own  teamsters' 
union  did  he  get  enthusiasm  for  union  principles. 

Again,  the  teamster  had  never  been  clearly  distinguished  from 
the  team  owner.  The  oldest  so-called  union  was  that  of  the 
hack  drivers,  organized  in  1867.  But  that  was  a  union  of  hack 
owners  as  much  as  hack  drivers,  since  the  majority  owned  the 
rigs  they  drove.  Consequently  their  interest  lay  rather  in  hold- 
ing up  the  fares  charged  to  the  public  than  the  wages  earned 
by  the  driver.  Their  organization  was  never  influential  and 
often  comatose.  Not  until  1902  did  they  take  in  the  livery 
drivers  employed  by  the  great  companies  and  thereby  become 
a  labor  union  as  well  as  a  guild.  Their  history  since  then  is 
similar  to  that  of  other  teamsters  and  drivers. 

The  laws  of  the  former  International  Team  Drivers'  Union, 
chartered  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  in  1899, 
admitted  to  membership  a  team  owner  if  he  operated  not  more 
than  five  teams.  This  threw  the  unions,  the  conventions,  and 
the  laws  into  the  hands  of  the  owners,  and  prices  were  more 
prominent  than  wages.  Such  a  union  was  inherently  weak. 
While  the  larger  team  owners  were  formally  excluded,  yet  their 

1  From  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  XIX,  1905,  pp.  400-433. 

36 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  37 

teamsters  were  not  attracted  to  a  union  whose  views  respecting 
wages  were  those  of  small  team  owners.  The  first  object  neces- 
sary to  form  an  effective  union  was  community  of  interest,  and 
this  required  separation  from  employers.  The  Chicago  team- 
sters, in  defiance  of  their  international  organization,  refused  to 
admit  owners;  and  finally,  in  1902,  they  seceded,  and  formed 
a  new  national  union,  including  only  teamsters  and  helpers. 
They  admitted  the  driver  who  owned  the  team  he  operated,  but 
excluded  him  if  he  owned  a  team  driven  by  some  one  else. 

Even  this  differentiation  was  not  enough.  Teamsters  are 
employed  in  every  industry.  No  craft  is  so  necessary  and  uni- 
versal. But  teaming  in  one  industry  is  distinct  from  teaming  in 
another.  The  laundry  driver  has  little  in  common  with  the  coal 
teamster,  except  horses  and  streets.  His  problems  of  unionism, 
such  as  methods  of  payment,  hours,  and  discipline,  are  differ- 
ent. In  1894  coal  teamsters,  truck  drivers,  and  others  were  in 
a  general  union,  just  as  they  are  to-day  in  smaller  towns.  But 
that  union  quickly  disappeared.  In  1886  something  similar  had 
occurred  under  the  Knights  of  Labor.  But  in  1902  each  in- 
dustry was  organized  separately  in  its  own  "  local."  Though 
each  is  called  a  local  union,  it  is  more  than  local  in  the  geo- 
graphical sense.  Each  local  is  a  distinct  craft,  with  jurisdiction 
over  the  entire  city  for  all  workmen  of  its  craft,  and  the  princi- 
ple recognized  for  all  is  the  same  as  that  explicitly  stated  by 
the  Ice  Wagon  Drivers  :  "  Our  Local  Union  has  the  powers  of 
self-government,  known  as  Local  Autonomy,  and,  if  deemed 
advisable,  to  make  such  by-laws  that  will  be  beneficent  to  the 
local  organization,  such  as  admitting  persons  who  own  and  oper- 
ate one  team,  regulating  initiation  fees  or  dues,  honorable  with- 
drawal cards,  trials,  fines,  suspensions  and  expulsions  in  con- 
formity with  the  general  laws."  There  are,  of  course,  many 
cases  where  locals  overlap ;  and,  in  order  to  avoid  conflict  of 
jurisdiction,  each  stable  is  assigned  to  the  local  to  which  51  per 
cent  or  more  of  its  work  belongs. 

Thus  the  teamsters  of  Chicago  were  the  first  to  establish  two 
principles  new  to  the  occupation,  —  craft  autonomy  and  wage 
unionism.  Starting  with  these  principles,  within  two  years 


38  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

there  were  organized  47  locals,  from  the  Truck  Drivers  with 
over  5000  members  to  the  Dye  House  Drivers  with  46.  After- 
wards this  differentiation  was  found  too  fine,  and  some  of  the 
smaller  locals  were  merged  into  others.  Nearly  all  were  organ- 
ized during  the  first  year.  They  created  a  joint  executive 
council  of  seven  delegates  from  each  local,  with  power  over 
strikes,  and  in  1903  they  amalgamated  with  the  International 
Team  Drivers,  which  meanwhile  had  changed  its  constitution 
to  exclude  employers.  The  organization  is  now  known  as  the 
International  Brotherhood  of  Teamsters,  with  821  locals  in 
some  300  cities. 

Such  sudden  and  precipitate  organization  was  accomplished 
and  recognized  with  scarcely  a  half  dozen  strikes.  This  was 
owing  partly  to  the  secrecy  maintained,  but  mainly  to  an  early 
demonstration  of  power  and  a  sympathetic  interest  on  the  part 
of  one  class  of  team  owners.  This  second  factor  is  explained  by 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  business. 

The  two  classes  of  team  owners  are  those  who  follow  teaming 
for  a  living  and  those  whose  teaming  is  an  adjunct  to  their 
general  business.  The  latter  include  the  department  stores, 
the  meat  packers,  grocers  and  meat  markets,  the  brewers, 
the  largest  manufacturers,  the  milk  dealers,  lumber  dealers, 
railway  express  companies,  ice  companies,  some  of  the  whole- 
sale merchants,  and  others.  The  former  include  truck  owners, 
expressmen  and  van  owners,  liverymen,  the  commission  team 
owners,  and,  to  a  lesser  degree,  coal  team  owners,  ice  wagon  own- 
ers, and  similar  teaming  contractors.  The  significance  of  this 
distinction  lies  in  the  fact  that  many  of  the  manufacturers  and 
most  of  the  wholesale  merchants  and  commission  houses  do 
their  teaming  through  contractors.  With  the  manufacturers  and 
wholesale  merchants  the  teamsters'  wages  are  but  a  small  part 
of  their  total  expenses.  With  the  retail  merchants  the  propor- 
tion is  larger,  the  largest  being  that  of  the  milk  dealers, —  15 
per  cent  or  less.  But  with  the  contracting  team  owners  the 
wages  of  teamsters  and  helpers  are  50  to  75  per  cent  of  their 
total  expenses.  Consequently,  while  competition  of  manufac- 
turers and  merchants  is  but  slightly  affected  by  the  teamsters' 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO 


39 


wages,  competition  of  team  owners  is  mainly  a  question  of  the 
wages  and  hours  of  their  competitors.  The  manufacturer  and 
wholesale  merchant  are  interested  in  keeping  wages  low,  but 
the  team  owner  is  interested  in  keeping  them  equal.  The  team 
owner  has  therefore  welcomed  and  encouraged  the  organization 
of  the  teamsters,  notwithstanding  an  extraordinary  increase  in 
the  rates  of  wages,  because  the  union  equalized  competition. 
In  taking  this  attitude  his  position  has  not  been  the  same  as 
that  of  the  merchant  or  manufacturer,  whose  cost  of  trucking 
was  increased  whether  done  directly  or  by  contract.  One  con- 
sequence is  that  the  team  owners  —  by  which  will  be  meant 
those  with  whom  teaming  is  their  business  and  not  an  adjunct 
—  have  organized  associations,  not  only  as  employers  to  nego- 
tiate with  the  unions,  but  also  as  contractors  to  regulate  rates 
of  cartage  and  livery.  The  principal  associations  of  this  kind 
are  the  Chicago  Team  Owners,  dealing  with  the  truck  drivers  ; 
the  Furniture  Movers  and  Expressmen's  Association,  dealing 
with  the  van  teamsters  and  helpers  and  the  baggage  and  parcel 
delivery  drivers  and  helpers ;  the  Commission  Team  Owners, 
dealing  with  the  commission  drivers ;  and  four  liverymen's 
associations,  dealing  with  the  hack,  coupe",  and  livery  drivers. 
These  associations  determine  by  joint  agreements  the  rates  of 
wages  and  the  hours  and  conditions  of  labor,  and  the  scales 
thus  determined  are  the  union  scales  paid  also  by  merchants 
and  manufacturers  not  members  of  the  association  to  their 
teamsters  employed  directly.  Many  of  the  other  teamsters' 
unions  have  joint  agreements  with  employers'  associations  ;  but 
such  associations  being  composed  of  merchants  or  manufactur- 
ers are  loose  and  informal,  while  the  associations  named  above 
are  compact  and  permanent,  some  of  them  with  bonds  and  for- 
feits binding  them  not  only  to  the  scale  of  wages  but  also  to 
the  scale  of  prices. 

The  Coal  Team  Owners  and  their  drivers  deserve  special 
mention  by  reason  of  their  early  leadership  and  their  peculiar 
methods.  The  drivers  were  organized  in  the  fall  of  1900  and 
secured  individual  agreements  during  1901.  They  made  further 
demands  in  the  winter  of  1901-1902,  which,  added  to  those 


40  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

already  secured,  doubled  the  cost  of  teaming.  For  a  two-horse 
wagon  they  formerly  received  50  cents  a  load  of  4  or  5  tons, 
and  for  a  three-horse  wagon  65  cents  a  load  of  6  or  7  tons, 
regardless  of  distance.  At  these  rates  the  labor  cost  of  cartage 
was  about  10  cents  a  ton,  and  the  teamster  earned  $8  to  $12  a 
week  of  indefinite  hours.  The  scale  finally  agreed  upon  sub- 
stitutes weekly  and  overtime  rates  for  the  former  piece  rates. 
The  two-horse  driver  receives  $15  and  the  three-horse  driver 
$18  for  a  week  of  66  hours,  and  35  cents  and  40  cents  an  hour 
overtime,  respectively.  At  these  rates  the  labor  cost  was  raised 
to  about  20  cents  a  ton. 

In  order  to  pay  these  higher  wages  the  coal  dealers  con- 
tended that  they  must  get  higher  prices  for  cartage.  The  anti- 
trust law  of  Illinois,  as  amended  in  1897,  made  an  exception  in 
favor  of  any  article  "  the  cost  of  which  is  mainly  made  up  of 
wages."1  To  avail  themselves  of  this  exception  the  coal  dealers 
separated  their  cartage  from  their  coal  and  organized,  not  a 
dealers'  association,  but  a  Coal  Team  Owners'  Association, 
since  the  cost  of  cartage,  but  not  the  cost  of  coal,  is  "mainly 
made  up  of  wages,"  and  since  a  team  owner  does  not  have  title 
in  the  property  he  delivers  and  is  therefore  not  responsible  for 
its  price  to  the  public.  There  is  also  a  considerable  amount  of 
coal  hauled  by  contract,  and  contracting  team  owners  who  are 
not  dealers  are  also  members  of  the  association.  The  rates 
charged  for  cartage  had  formerly  been  22  to  27  cents  a  ton. 
The  association  adopted  and  issued  a  schedule  setting  the  rates 
at  50  cents  a  ton  for  manufacturing  and  steam  use  and  60 
cents  a  ton  for  domestic  use  within  two  and  one  half  miles 
from  the  point  of  loading ;  for  each  additional  mile  or  fraction 
thereof  10  cents  a  ton.  Thus  the  rates  for  cartage  were 
doubled  when  the  teamsters'  wages  were  doubled.  But  since 
they  started  on  different  bases  it  is  also  true  that  the  absolute 
increase  in  cartage  was  twice  as  great  as  the  increase  in  wages, 
namely  20  to  25  cents  a  ton  when  wages  were  increased  10 
cents  a  ton.  There  are,  of  course,  other  expenses  besides  wages, 

1  This  exception  was  afterwards  declared  unconstitutional,  as  being  an  unlaw- 
ful discrimination.  See  People  v.  Butler  Street  Foundry  Co.,  201  111.  236. 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  41 

mainly,  feed  and  care  of  horses ;  and  these  are  offered  as  a 
justification  for  the  disproportionate  advance,  though  the 
occasion  thereof  was  the  advance  in  wages.  At  the  same  time, 
since  the  dealers  mainly  own  their  teams  and  their  prices  for 
coal  include  delivery,  their  ability  to  maintain  the  rate  of  cartage 
really  depends  on  their  ability  to  maintain  the  price  of  coal. 
This  they  have  not  been  able  to  do  on  bituminous  coal  on 
account  of  the  many  sources  of  supply,  while  they  have  thor- 
oughly succeeded  on  anthracite  coal  on  account  of  the  centralized 
control  of  supply. 

However  this  may  be,  the  coal  dealers  at  first  relied  upon  the 
teamsters  to  control  the  market  and  even  to  create  one.  They 
made  a  provisional  agreement  in  January,  1902,  to  take  effect 
the  following  May  and  to  continue  for  five  years,  if  the  team- 
sters meanwhile  could  demonstrate  their  power.  The  agree- 
ment provided  that  none  but  members  of  the  union  should  be 
employed  and  that  the  teamsters  should  work  for  none  but 
members  of  the  association.  With  this  understanding  the  agent 
of  the  teamsters  stopped  the  delivery  of  coal  to  the  great  firm 
of  Marshall  Field  &  Co.  for  a  few  hours  in  winter  until  that 
firm  signed  a  two-year  contract  with  the  union  to  use  coal 
instead  of  natural  gas  during  the  summer.  This  spectacular 
demonstration  had  two  results.  The  managers  of  other  stores 
and  office  buildings,  who  also  had  made  the  mistake  of  building 
sky  scrapers  without  coal  bunkers,  signed  a  similar  contract 
when  requested ;  and  nearly  all  of  the  teamsters  in  Chicago 
joined  the  union.  The  astute  agent  of  the  coal  team  owners, 
John  C.  Driscoll  by  name,  who  had  engineered  this  coup, 
proceeded  on  his  part  to  organize  the  team  owners  in  other 
branches,  and  eventually  became  secretary  of  five  such  associa- 
tions. In  each  case  agreements  similar  to  the  original  one  were 
made  with  the  new  teamsters'  locals.  These  and  other  locals 
were  organized  without  general  strikes,  except  those  of  the 
packinghouse  and  department  store  teamsters  in  June.  Yet, 
while  they  had  but  few  strikes  on  their  own  account,  the  team- 
sters in  the  first  flush  of  enthusiasm  stopped  work  in  sympathy 
with  strikers  on  the  inside ;  and  this  in  the  case  of  the  freight 


42  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

handlers  in  July  was  the  most  destructive  since  1894.    That 
disaster  sobered  the  teamster,  but  it  showed  him  his  power. 

Springing  from  these  sympathetic  strikes  came  the  most 
remarkable  board  of  arbitration  known  to  industrial  disputes. 
Seven  of  the  largest  employers  of  teamsters  and  seven  agents 
of  the  teamsters'  unions  constituted  themselves  for  one  year 
the  industrial  umpires  of  Chicago.  Practically  all  the  strikes 
of  new  unions  during  that  period  came  before  this  board.  The 
older  unions,  such  as  the  building  trades,  disdained  this  upstart 
jurisprudence  and  refused  to  submit  their  disputes.  But  it 
happened  that  most  of  the  strikes  of  that  period  were  those  of 
new  unions.  The  board's  powers  were  quasi  compulsory,  since 
the  employer  who  would  not  submit  to  arbitration  could  not  get 
teamsters,  and  the  strikers  who  would  not  submit  could  not 
get  the  help  of  the  teamsters.  Many  of  the  strikes  were  handled 
by  Driscoll,  the  agent  of  the  teaming  employers,  without  bring- 
ing them  before  the  board  of  arbitration,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  his  unscrupulous  use  of  money  in  bribing  the  leaders  of  the 
unions,  the  board  might  have  continued.  But  his  corruption 
was  finally  exposed,  the  teamsters  withdrew  their  representa- 
tives, and  eventually  deposed  the  officers  who  had  been  on 
friendly  terms  with  him.  The  board  of  arbitration  was  dis- 
solved. Employers,  also,  who  were  willing  that  Driscoll  should 
use  their  money  to  "buy  off"  the  leaders  of  troublesome 
strikes,  became  distrustful  when  they  learned  that  he  secretly 
fomented  strikes  to  be  bought  off.  He  lost  his  position  in  all 
but  the  Coal  Team  Owners'  Association,  and  the  others  sub- 
stituted men  of  a  different  type.  Since  this  reform  movement 
of  1903  the  teaming  industry  can  be  studied  as  an  economic 
rather  than  as  a  criminal  phenomenon. 

HOURS  AND  WAGES 

The  change  most  impressive  brought  about  by  the  unions 
is  that  from  indefinite  hours  and  wages  to  definite  wages  and 
pay  for  overtime.  The  teamsters'  occupation  is  peculiar  in  that 
it  has  carried  over  and  retained  in  industry  the  practices  of 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  43 

agriculture.  The  teamster  has  always  been  expected  to  "  care  for 
his  stock  "  as  well  as  to  drive  his  wagon.  Even  where  a  team- 
ing contractor's  business  had  grown  so  large  as  to  require  the 
services  of  stablemen,  the  teamster  was  expected  to  be  at  the 
stable  before  working  time  and  to  remain  at  the  stable  after 
working  time  long  enough  to  feed  and  curry  his  horses,  clean 
their  stalls,  grease  and  repair  his  wagon,  hitch  up  and  unhitch, 
and  keep  his  harness  clean  and  the  brass  polished.  This 
required  also  several  hours  on  Sunday.  For  such  work  he  was 
not  supposed  to  be  paid,  —  it  was  the  necessary  preparation  for 
work,  not  the  real  productive  effort  that  brought  him  wages. 
This  continues  to  hold  good  under  the  union  agreements,  so 
that,  while  the  teamster  says  that  he  now  has  a  ten-hour  work- 
ing day,  the  day  lasts  nearly  always  from  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  to  six  or  half  past  six  in  the  evening,  with  one  hour 
for  dinner.  Consequently,  the  actual  working  time  for  which 
his  stipulated  day's  wages  is  paid  is  n  or  iij-  hours.  This 
enables  the  truck  driver  to  back  his  wagon  up  to  the  platform 
for  his  first  load  at  seven  o'clock,  the  time  when  the  inside 
workers  begin,  and  to  get  his  last  load  in  time  to  return  to  the 
stable  and  leave  for  home  at  about  six  in  the  evening.  For- 
merly he  might  not  get  his  last  load  till  the  inside  workers  quit, 
and  this  might  keep  him  at  the  barn  till  eight  or  nine  o'clock 
and  even  later.  In  some  lines  of  teaming  not  depending  on 
factories  and  warehouses,  such  as  furniture  moving,  groceries, 
markets,  and  commission  driving,  he  was  called  out  much  earlier 
in  the  morning  or  kept  later  at  night  according  to  the  amount 
of  work  the  team  owner  could  find  for  him  to  do.  The  van  team- 
ster who  took  out  a  sleighing  party  was  not  paid  for  it,  because 
that  was  night  work.  Often  he  and  others  reported  at  the  stable 
at  three,  four,  or  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  left  the  stable 
at  eight,  nine,  or  ten  at  night.  On  this  account  it  is  impossible 
to  know  the  number  of  hours  most  of  the  teamsters  formerly 
worked.  As  they  were  not  paid  for  overtime,  their  former  earn- 
ings give  no  indication  of  the  hours  employed.  In  general,  they 
ranged  from  70  to  100  hours  a  week,  according  to  seasons  and 
kinds  of  teaming. 


44  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

These  hours  have  been  reduced  in  two  ways  :  first,  by  cut- 
ting out  Sunday  work,  or  stipulating  that  it  shall  be  paid  at  one 
and  one  half  or  double  rates ;  and  second,  by  stipulating  a  rate 
per  hour  for  overtime  before  six  A.M.  and  after  six  P.M.  Under 
these  conditions  the  larger  team  owners  employ  stablemen  to 
do  much  of  the  work  formerly  done  by  the  teamsters,  and  in 
order  to  avoid  the  higher  rates  for  overtime,  they  try  to  arrange 
their  work  to  bring  it  within  the  regular  time.  The  wholesale 
merchant  who  kept  his  truck  driver  hauling  to  the  railways 
during  the  day  and  then  gave  him  a  city  load  late  in  the  after- 
noon now  concentrates  his  schedule  of  trips.  Nevertheless,  in 
some  lines  the  teamster  continues  to  make  a  large  amount  of 
overtime.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  coal  teamster,  at  $18  a 
week  and  40  cents  overtime,  to  earn  $20  or  $24  a  week.  In 
other  branches  overtime  varies  greatly  according  to  the  busi- 
ness. Consequently,  in  this  industry  the  policy  of  reducing  the 
hours  of  labor  is  necessarily  often  a  policy  of  merely  getting 
pay  for  overtime  and  so  greatly  increasing  the  earnings.  The 
driver  must  finish  his  trip  and  return  his  team  to  the  stable; 
and  while  overtime  cannot  always  be.  abolished,  it  can  be 
paid  for. 

Again,  there  are  some  lines  in  which  very  little  change  in 
the  hours,  except  Sunday  relief,  has  occurred.  The  railway 
express  drivers  never  had  the  care  of  their  horses,  and  their 
reduction  in  hours  has  been  but  three  or  four  a  week.  The 
laundry  and  bakery  drivers  have  about  the  same  hours  as  for- 
merly. The  routes  of  the  keg  beer  drivers  had  always  been 
equalized,  so  that  they  could  finish  their  work  in  the  morning; 
but  they  were  kept  around  the  barn  indefinitely  for  extra  jobs 
and  errands.  These  extras  have  been  cut  off. 

The  action  of  the  milk  wagon  drivers  deserves  special  men- 
tion. They  directed  their  efforts  at  first  not  to  the  rates  of 
wages,  but  to  the  hours  of  work.  Formerly  they  started  out  in 
the  summer  at  from  one  to  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  made  a 
delivery  of  milk  in  the  forenoon  and  a  second  delivery  in  the 
afternoon,  returned  at  four  or  five  o'clock,  spent  one  or  two  hours 
in  balancing  their  books,  and  got  away  at  six  or  seven  in  the 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  45 

evening,  making  12  to  18  hours  a  day.  Then  they  worked  10 
hours  on  Sunday,  delivering  milk  and  caring  for  their  horses 
and  wagons,  altogether  100  hours  a  week  for  $10  or  $12.  In 
the  winter  they  began  at  six  A.M.,  making  80  hours  a  week. 

Their  first  step  after  organizing  in  January,  1903,  was  to  cut 
out  the  second  delivery,  to  fix  their  hours  in  winter  from  8  to 
5,  and  to  decide  that  in  summer  no  delivery  should  be  made 
in  the  afternoon  and  "all  wagons  must  be  off  the  street  by 
one  P.M."  This  brought  the  hours  to  about  52  a  week,  including 
4  hours  on  Sunday,  —  a  reduction  of  nearly  50  hours  in  summer 
and  30  hours  in  winter.  Within  the  past  three  years  their 
wages  have  advanced  to  $45  and  $60  a  month,  so  that  the  rate 
of  pay  per  hour  has  more  than  doubled.  These  are  minimum 
rates.  There  are  also  "  route  men,"  whose  commissions  on 
sales  bring  their  total  earnings  to  $70  or  $80  a  month. 

Public  amazement  and  invective  followed  the  "  one-daily- 
delivery  "  system.  The  rule  was  adopted  in  January  and  did 
not  attract  attention  until  warm  weather.  Then  the  newspapers, 
with  several  columns  daily,  attacked  the  union.  Early  in  June 
the  commissioner  of  health  stated  in  his  weekly  bulletin :  "The 
' one-daily-delivery'  of  milk  has  begun  to  reap  its  harvest.  Even 
in  well-to-do  families  this  thirty-six  to  sixty  hours'  old  milk  can- 
not be  kept  from  souring  from  one  delivery  to  the  next.  Herod 
was  more  merciful  in  the  method  he  used  in  his  slaughter  of 
the  innocents." 

Now  that  two  summers  have  passed  a  somewhat  cooler  esti- 
mate can  be  made  of  the  drivers'  action.1  In  fact,  the  change 
to  the  "one-daily-delivery"  of  milk  could  have  but  little  direct 
effect  on  the  death  rate  of  children.  The  milk  formerly 

1  At  the  close  of  the  first  season  the  health  commissioner's  statistics  showed 
that  the  number  of  deaths  of  children  under  five  years  of  age  during  the  three 
summer  months  (July,  August,  and  September)  was  ten  less  than  that  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  and  at  the  close  of  the  second  season  (1904)  his  figures  for  the  same 
months  showed  a  still  further  decrease  of  388  deaths.  The  death  rate  of  children 
under  five  for  the  twelve  months  remained  stationary  the  first  year  and  fell  from 
39.39  per  1000  living  to  32.64  the  second  year,  and  the  number  of  deaths  in  the 
three  summer  months,  which  had  been  30.4  per  cent  of  the  year's  total  in  1902, 
fell  to  26.6  per  cent  of  the  smaller  year's  total  in  1904. 


46  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

delivered  in  the  afternoon  was  from  exactly  the  same  milking  as 
that  delivered  in  the  forenoon,  the  only  difference  being  that 
the  driver  carried  a  part  or  all  of  it  around  in  his  wagon  all 
day  instead  of  leaving  it  at  the  house  in  the  morning.  The 
morning  deliveries  are  always,  with  the  unimportant  exception 
noted  below,  at  least  twenty-four  and  thirty-six  hours  old,  hav- 
ing been  drawn  the  morning  of  the  day  before  and  the  evening 
of  the  second  day  before.  Furthermore,  in  the  poorer  sections 
of  the  city,  where  home  refrigerators  are  scarce,  a  large  part  of 
the  milk  has  always  been  bought  at  groceries  or  depots  con- 
veniently located  in  nearly  every  block.  In  1904  there  were 
issued  2424  milk  licenses  for  such  stores  against  2516  for 
wagons.  Both  drivers  and  dealers  state  that  almost  their  only 
afternoon  customers  were  in  the  wealthier  sections  of  the  city, 
and  the  amount  taken  was  small,  being  only  what  the  mis- 
tress wished  for  an  unexpected  guest  or  an  extra  function.  On 
the  whole,  it  appears  that  the  afternoon  delivery  was  a  needless 
waste,  imposed  by  the  thoughtlessness  of  housewives.  The 
fifty  hours  saved  each  week  to  the  drivers  have  not  laid  any 
hardship  on  the  public. 

While  not  directly  affecting  the  death  rate,  the  revolt  of  the 
drivers  indirectly  reduced  it  by  awakening  public  conscience 
and  bringing  about  reforms  in  the  municipal  health  department. 
The  Children's  Hospital  Society  created  a  Milk  Commission, 
including  physicians,  bacteriologists,  and  representatives  of 
the  Women's  Club,  established  a  laboratory,  and  by  special 
arrangement  sent  out  in  bottles  milk  fourteen  hours  old  to  sick 
children  of  the  congested  districts  and  the  hospitals.  The  Civic 
Federation  employed  the  biological  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  to  test  some  three  hundred  samples  of  milk 
from  various  sources.  Their  report  reflected  unfavorably  upon 
the  inspection  of  the  Municipal  Department  of  Health,  and 
finally  led  in  1904  to  the  appointment  of  an  additional  force  of 
milk  inspectors,  including  four  country  inspectors  to  visit 
farms  ;  and  all  inspectors  were  instructed  to  pay  special  atten- 
tion to  the  sanitary  condition  of  dairies  and  utensils.  In  that 
year  for  the  first  time  the  department's  bacteriologist  made  a 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  47 

systematic  examination  of  the  city's  market  milk.  Consider- 
able amounts  of  milk  were  condemned,  nineteen  milk  peddlers' 
premises  were  abolished,  several  hundred  dealers  were  notified 
to  place  and  keep  their  depots  in  sanitary  condition.  An  ordi- 
nance was  adopted  requiring  metal  seals  to  cans,  by  means  of 
which  responsibility  can  be  fixed  on  the  shipper,  the  railway 
employee,  or  the  dealer.  This  has  reduced  milk  watering  50  per 
cent.  The  railroads  were  induced  to  furnish  better  facilities 
for  handling.1  Coupled  with  a  cool  summer  in  1904  and  the 
completion  of  sewer  systems  and  the  drainage  canal,  the  death 
rate  of  all  ages  declined  somewhat,  and  the  death  rate  of  chil- 
dren declined  still  more,  as  stated  above.  On  the  whole,  the 
stand  taken  by  the  milk  wagon  drivers  diverted  attention  from 
a  false  security  on  two  deliveries  of  milk  a  day  to  the  real 
source  of  danger,  —  an  inadequate  milk  inspection. 

EARNINGS 

The  wages  formerly  earned  were  as  indefinite  as  the  hours. 
While  the  books  of  the  team  owners,  if  examined,  would  throw 
no  light  on  the  former  rates  of  pay  per  hour,  they  would  show 
the  earnings  by  the  week  or  month.  In  lieu  of  such  an  exami- 
nation the  testimony  of  employers  and  men  has  been  found 
to  agree  remarkably  in  some  lines  and  fairly  well  in  others. 
Apparent  disagreements  are  explained  by  the  existence  of  ex- 
ceptionally high  or  exceptionally  low  wages.  The  policy  of  the 
unions  has  been  to  establish  a  minimum  rate  of  pay,  and  then 
to  stipulate  that  no  employee  receiving  more  than  the  scale 
shall  surfer  a  reduction.  Consequently,  exceptional  men,  espe- 
cially in  those  lines  where  commissions  are  paid,  have  not 
gained  an  increase  in  weekly  earnings,  though  the  reduction  in 
hours  has  increased  their  hourly  rates  ;  while  the  lowest  paid 
positions  have  been  substantially  increased  by  the  week  and 
amazingly  increased  by  the  hour.  Looking  at  the  position  of 
the  average  teamster  without  special  abilities  or  disabilities,  it 
may  be  said  that  for  70  to  100  hours'  work  his  earnings  before 

1  Report  of  Bacteriologist  and  Director  of  the  Municipal  Laboratory,  1904  (MS.). 


48  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

organization  were  $8  to  $12  a  week.  Some  grocery  drivers, 
garbage  collectors,  beer  wagon  helpers,  and  many  boys  got  as 
little  as  $4.50  and  $6,  while  men  on  commission  got  as  much 
as  $25  or  $30;  but  the  prevailing  testimony  sets  the  bulk  of 
the  earnings  at  $9.  Since  organization  the  minimum  rates  per 
week  have  been  raised,  so  that  they  range  from  $10  for  retail 
grocery  drivers  to  $18  for  a  three-horse  coal  team  driver;  the 
standard  towards  which  all  are  aiming  being  $15  a  week  of  six 
days,  and  the  rate  that  the  largest  number  have  reached  is 
somewhat  less.  The  advances  made  for  helpers  are  relatively 
greater  than  those  for  drivers,  bringing  the  two  closer  together, 
and  both  to  a  higher  level. 

While  these  increases  are  large,  they  nearly  always  exagger- 
ate the  increased  labor  cost  to  the  employers.  Often  the  high- 
est paid  men  were  not  affected,  and  the  better  paid  men  were 
already  close  to  the  new  minimum.  In  some  lines,  like  depart- 
ment stores  and  railway  express,  only  one  company  was  paying 
the  extremely  low  rates,  and  that  usually  to  boys.  In  other 
lines  this  proportion  was  larger.  The  boys  have  been  dis- 
charged and  men  have  taken  their  places  ;  and  their  greater 
efficiency  somewhat  offsets  the  apparent  increase  in  pay.  Fur- 
thermore, from  the  teamster's  standpoint  the  reduction  in 
hours,  which  has  so  enormously  increased  his  hourly  rate,  has 
often  been  in  the  hours  uselessly  spent  in  waiting  or  doing 
uneconomical  work  in  order  to  be  on  hand  when  wanted.  Such 
wasted  hours  the  employer  did  not  count,  and  their  reduction 
does  not  increase  proportionately  his  hourly  cost,  because  now 
he  keeps  the  teamster  busy  every  minute  while  on  duty.  Con- 
sequently, the  team  owner's  increased  labor  cost  is  not  to  be 
measured  by  the  teamster's  extraordinary  gain  by  the  hour,  as 
would  naturally  be  supposed,  but  rather  by  his  more  moderate 
gain  by  the  week. 

COMMISSIONS 

In  several  lines  the  teamster  is  more  than  a  driver  :  he  is 
a  solicitor  or  order  clerk,  and  can  build  up  or  break  down 
his  employer's  business.  In  some  cases  the  companies  have 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  49 

regular  solicitors  who  are  not  drivers,  but  even  then  the  driver 
must  be  relied  upon  to  "  hold  his  trade."  This  takes  an  extreme 
form  in  the  laundry  business,  where  in  a  union  of  700  members 
there  are  200  drivers,  known  as  "  commission  men,"  who  own 
each  a  horse  and  wagon  and  "  control  their  trade."  Some  of 
these  men  have  agencies  at  hotels,  news  stands,  and  so  on, 
where  orders  may  be  left.  They  can  transfer  their  business 
from  one  laundry  to  another,  and  their  commission  is  40  per 
cent.  At  such  rates  the  most  successful  driver  makes  as  much 
as  $100  a  week.  Naturally,  the  laundrymen  objected  to  this 
power  of  transferring  business,  and  they  began  to  require  con- 
tracts preventing  a  man  on  leaving  their  employment  from 
going  into  the  laundry  business  for  two  years  thereafter.  The 
courts  refused  to  sustain  such  contracts,  but  afterwards,  when 
they  were  modified  so  as  to  limit  their  operation  to  a  designated 
territory,  they  were  sustained.  The  union  met  the  policy  of  the 
laundrymen  by  a  clause  in  their  agreements  stipulating  that 
drivers  owning  their  own  wagon  and  known  as  "  commission 
men  "  should  receive  not  less  than  40  per  cent  of  the  gross 
amount  of  work,  and  that  "  no  driver  shall  be  requested  to  sign 
any  contract  conflicting  with  this  agreement."  Evidently,  a 
union  of  solicitors  owning  their  places  of  business,  protecting 
their  commissions,  and  maintaining  their  power  to  throw  busi- 
ness from  one  employer  to  another  partakes  more  of  the  nature 
of  a  merchants'  guild  than  a  labor  union.  In  the  case  of  laun- 
dry drivers  not  owning  their  wagons  the  union  agreement  pro- 
vides a  minimum  salary  of  $15  a  week,  which  is  an  advance  of 
something  like  50  per  cent  on  their  former  wages.  In  addi- 
tion, many  of  them  get  a  commission  on  business  beyond  a 
certain  amount.  The  rule  of  a  minimum  salary  holds  for 
drivers  in  all  other  lines  where  commissions  are  paid,  the  laun- 
drymen owning  their  wagons  being  the  only  class  paid  solely  by 
commissions  without  a  minimum  guaranty. 

In  the  case  of  the  bakery  drivers  the  guaranty  is  $14  a  week, 
which  would  be  useful  only  in  the  out  districts  where  business 
is  light,  but  where  the  union  does. not  yet  control.  The  valu- 
able advances  are  in  the  rates  of  commission,  and  these  apply 


50  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

to  the  large  bakeries  supplying  the  down-town  district.  Here 
the  minimum  of  $14  is  significant,  not  as  a  true  minimum,  but 
as  a  basis  on  which  to  compute  the  commissions.  For  example, 
the  best  paying  company  in  the  city,  which  formerly  paid  $14 
a  week  and  6  per  cent  on  sales  above  $250  now  pays  $14  a 
week  and  i%  per  cent  on  business  up  to  $150,  3  per  cent  on 
the  excess  to  $250,  and  7  per  cent  on  the  excess  above  $250. 
Consequently,  a  driver  who  formerly  received  $17  on  a  week's 
business  of  $300  now  gets  $22.75.  The  larger  his  business, 
the  larger  has  been  the  rate  of  increase  in  his  earnings,  a  few 
getting  as  much  as  $40  a  week  and  none  less  than  $16. 

The  commission  scheme  of  the  beer  drivers  is  suggestive. 
The  bottle  beer  driver,  more  than  the  keg  beer  driver,  is 
expected  to  "  hold  his  trade."  In  both  cases  the  commission 
is  paid,  not  on  the  sales,  but  on  the  "empties  "  returned;  and 
in  both  cases  the  commission  has  always  been  looked  upon  as 
spending-money.  The  bottle  beer  driver  joins  many  lodges  to 
which  bartenders  belong.  He  seldom  sees  the  saloon  proprie- 
tor, for  his  visits  are  made  early  in  the  morning.  His  persua- 
siveness is  exerted  on  the  bartender.  To  prevent  him  from 
transferring  his  trade  from  one  brewery  to  another,  the  brewers 
have  a  strong  association  and  an  agreement  not  to  take  another 
brewer's  driver.  The  agreement  is  enforced  by  a  clearing 
house,  organized  as  follows.  The  driver  does  not  get  all  of  the 
"  empties."  Many  of  them  are  thrown  in  the  alleys  and  back 
yards,  and  come  into  the  hands  of  junk  dealers.  These  sell 
them  to  the  clearing  house  of  the  brewers'  association.  The 
brewer  who  does  not  abide  by  the  rules  of  the  association  can- 
not get  back  his  junk  bottles  through  the  clearing  house  until 
his  fine  is  paid.  This  is  one  of  the  means  that  hold  the  brewers 
together  in  fixing  prices  and  resisting  organized  labor.  Lacking 
such  a  clearing  house,  the  laundrymen  have  not  been  able  as 
effectively  to  resist  the  "  commission  men." 

The  keg  beer  driver  gets  his  salary  of  $80  a  month  and  4 
cents  additional  on  empty  kegs  returned.  Before  organization 
his  salary  was  $60  to  $80  and  his  commission  was  8  cents, 
but  out  of  this  he  paid  his  helper  $20  to  $35  a  month.  Now 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  51 

the  helper  gets  $55  a  month  paid  by  the  brewer,  and  the  driver 
tries  to  keep  his  commission  through  a  clause  in  the  agreement 
providing  that  "peddlers,  helpers,  and  extra  drivers  shall  not  be 
required  to  spend  any  money  with  customers  on  their  routes, 
and  their  not  spending  any  money  shall  not  be  cause  for 
any  complaint  or  discharge."  Under  this  arrangement  the 
majority  "take  home"  more  than  their  salary,  and  the  best 
men  with  the  best  routes  are  said  to  earn,  net,  as  much  as  $30 
or  $35  a  week. 

The  milk  wagon  driver's  commission  is  computed  on  the 
basis  of  "  i  cent  to  the  point,"  a  point  being  the  unit  of  each 
article  sold,  as  a  quart  of  milk,  a  half  pint  of  cream,  or  a  pound 
of  butter.  This  figures  out  about  14  per  cent  on  sales;  but  he 
is  usually  paid  a  minimum  of  $60  a  month,  if  his  sales  do  not 
yield  so  much,  and  one  half  cent  a  point  on  sales  above  the 
amount  necessary  to  compute  the  minimum  at  i  cent.  The 
best  man  earns  $100,  and  the  majority  in  the  service  of 
the  "big  firms"  earn  $65.  The  commission  is  optional,  and 
very  few  of  the  small  dealers  pay  it.  The  union  demands  for 
1905  would  make  it  compulsory,  would  raise  it  to  i^  cent,  and 
would  for  the  first  time  establish  a  minimum  wage  of  $17.50 
per  week  instead  of  the  fluctuating  minima  ranging  from  $45 
paid  by  the  small  dealer  to  $60  paid  by  the  large  dealer. 

The  commission  system  fades  into  the  graded  salary  system 
in  the  case  of  the  yeast  wagon  drivers  (belonging  to  the  bakery 
drivers'  local).  The  union  has  changed  the  grading  and  promo- 
tions from  the  basis  of  individual  bargaining  to  the  basis  of 
seniority,  the  driver  beginning  at  $15  and  advancing  $i  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year,  and  then  $i  at  two-year  intervals,  until  at 
the  end  of  the  seventh  year  he  reaches  $19.  Since  the  starting 
point  was  formerly  $12  and  seniority  was  counted  back  for 
those  in  the  service  at  the  time  when  the  change  was  made, 
some  of  the  best  men  received  no  advance,  while  others  long 
in  the  service  but  not  hitherto  preferred  by  employers  were 
advanced  at  once  from  $12  a  week  to  $18  and  $19. 

In  the  case  of  the  grocery  and  market  drivers  the  range  of 
wages  was  formerly  extreme,  since  experienced  men  were  rare 


52  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  unsuitable  men  abundant.  The  best  commanded  $25  or  $30 
a  week,  and  the  poorest  $5  a  week.  The  union  did  not  attempt 
to  grade  all  the  men  according  to  seniority,  but  contented  itself 
with  grading  the  order  clerks,  or  "  those  controlling  their  own 
trade,"  in  three  classes  of  $12,  $13,  and  $14  for  the  first  three 
six-month  periods  and  leaving  further  promotions  to  the 
employer.  For  other  classes  of  drivers  they  simply  raised  the 
minimum  from,  say,  $i  I  a  week  for  those  in  the  wholesale  trade 
to  $15,  and  from  $5  a  week  for  retail  drivers  to  $10. 

The  same  distinction  appears  among  the  railway  express 
drivers.  The  union  grades  the  "  conductor  "  on  a  double  wagon, 
since  he  is  a  solicitor  and  the  responsible  man  under  bonds, 
at  $62.50  the  first  three  months,  $67.50  after  three  months, 
and  $70  after  six  months,  but  fixes  a  flat  rate  for  the  driver. 
Apart  from  these  three  grades,  promotions  to  higher  pay  are  at 
the  discretion  of  the  six  companies,  among  whom  competition 
is  keen  and  the  best  solicitors  eagerly  sought. 

In  these  cases  we  can  see  the  transition  to  the  ordinary 
teamster,  who  does  not  "control  his  trade."  This  is  the  situa- 
tion with  the  great  bulk  of  teaming,  such  as  that  of  the  truck 
driver,  coal  teamster,  building-material  driver,  and  so  on.  In 
general,  wherever  the  commission  or  premium  system  on  sales 
is  possible  the  union  prefers  it,  and  even  requires  it;  but 
where  the  commission  cannot  be  definitely  measured  because 
the  traffic  is  miscellaneous,  the  union  tries  to  substitute  grading 
according  to  seniority.  And,  finally,  where  the  teamster  is  only 
a  driver  and  not  a  solicitor  the  union  establishes  simply  a  flat 
minimum.  There  is  one  exception  to  the  last  statement.  This 
is  in  the  loading,  unloading,  and  hauling  of  common  brick  from 
the  cars,  employing  about  200  men  in  a  union  of  700.  The 
price  was  formerly  36  cents  per  1000,  raised  by  agreement 
with  the  union  to  40  cents,  at  which  the  driver  earns  $3  to  $4 
a  day  as  against  a  day  rate  of  $2.25  in  the  same  local  union. 
With  this  exception  the  ordinary  driver  in  the  different  locals 
is  paid  by  the  week  or  month. 

Besides  wages  and  hours  the  unions  have  secured  relief 
from  exactions  which  the  members  consider  important.  The 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  53 

department  store  drivers  and  the  livery  drivers  no  longer  pur- 
chase their  uniforms  at  company  prices.  The  expense  of 
securing  bonds,  formerly  amounting  to  $5  a  year,  required  of 
many  classes  of  teamsters,  is  now  borne  by  the  employer.  The 
grocery  and  market  wagon  drivers  are  no  longer  responsible 
for  goods  stolen  off  their  wagons  or  spoiled  by  kerosene ;  and 
they,  as  well  as  the  department  store  and  other  classes  of  retail- 
delivery  drivers,  are  protected  against  losses  for  which  they  are 
not  responsible  on  C.O.D.  packages  and  on  goods  returned.  The 
agreements  in  all  cases  contain  an  arbitration  clause  whereby 
an  umpire  decides  if  employer  and  employee  cannot  agree. 

STRIKES 

The  experience  of  the  unions  has  led  to  a  decided  change  in 
the  matter  of  strikes.  Sympathetic  strikes  seem  to  have  been 
eliminated  during  the  past  two  years,  except  where  a  sister 
local  of  teamsters  was  involved.  As  far  as  other  industries  are 
concerned,  the  teamsters  have  endeavored  to  adopt  the  let-alone 
policy  of  the  railway  brotherhoods,  although  within  the  past 
few  weeks  they  have  listened  to  the  appeals  of  the  garment 
workers  and  violated  this  policy  as  well  as  their  agreements.1 
All  of  their  agreements  require  work  to  be  continued  pending 
arbitration.2  A  vote  to  strike  must  be  taken  on  paper  ballots, 

1  See  P.S.,  note  following  this  chapter,  p.  64. 

2  The  truck  drivers,  like  others,  issue  a  card  to  their  stewards,  as  follows : 

ADVICE  TO  STEWARDS 

1.  Become  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  the  I.  B.  of  T.  and  of  your  Local  Union. 

2.  Become  acquainted  with  the  agreement  of  your  Local  and  the  Employers'. 

3.  Examine  the  Due  Books  of  every  member  working  in  the  barn  in  which  you  are  Steward 
no  later  than  the  loth  of  each  month. 

4.  When  a  new  man  is  employed,  ask  him  for  his  Due  Book.    If  he  is  not  a  member  of 
Local  705,  or  he  is  three  months  in  arrears  (and  a  member  of  Local  705  in  good  standing 
can  be  .had),  object  to  him  going  to  work. 

5.  When  a  member  has  a  complaint,  he  must  report  it  to  the  Steward,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
take  the  member  to  the  employer,  hear  both  sides  of  the  case,  and,  if  the  employer  is  right, 
tell  the  member  so.    If  he  is  not  satisfied,  send  him  to  the  officials  of  the  Local.   If  the 
employer  refuses  to  comply  with  the  Steward's  decision,  notify  the  officials  at  once. 

6.  Stewards  must  not  call  a  strike  unless  authorized  by  the  Local  through  its  officers. 

7.  Stewards  should  use  their  influence  to  prevent  a  strike  until  the  officers  have  had  a 
chance  to  adjust  the  difference. 

8.  Stewards  should  attend  as  many  meetings  as  they  possibly  can. 


54  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  must  have  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  local.  It  must 
then  go  to  the  joint  executive  council.  If  approved,  it  is 
referred  to  the  general  executive  board  of  the  international 
organization.  That  body  is  prohibited  from  approving  "  unless 
there  is  sufficient  funds  on  hand  in  the  International  Union  to 
pay  strike  benefits  "  of  $5  a  week.  If  it  decides  to  sustain  the 
local,  it  sends  a  representative  to  take  charge  of  the  negotia- 
tions and,  if  he  deems  it  advisable,  to  order  a  strike.  A  local 
striking  without  such  approval  receives  no  support. 

The  controlling  influence  of  the  International  is  strength- 
ened by  the  system  of  finance.  Out  of  the  local  dues  of  50 
cents  a  month,  1 5  cents  are  paid  to  the  International  treasury, 
whose  funds  are  said  to  be  large  (no  figures  are  published). 
The  locals  have  moderate  treasuries,  mainly  for  insurance 
benefits,  and  the  International  is  expected  after  the  first  week 
to  support  the  strikes  it  approves.  Nearly  all  of  the  locals  pay 
death  benefits  of  $100,  adding  $10  for  flowers.  The  coal  team- 
sters tried  sick  benefits  for  a  while,  but  stopped  the  experiment 
because  "too  many  got  sick." 

The  initiation  fees  of  several  locals  are  $5.25  ;  but  the  coal, 
truck,  ice,  van,  railway  express,  and  a  few  other  locals  have 
advanced  the  fee  to  $15.  For  a  time  the  truck  drivers  placed 
theirs  at  $25,  but  they  reduced  it  to  $15,  which  seems  to  be 
the  figure  towards  which  all  are  tending.  Usually  the  fee  is 
paid  in  installments  extending  over  five  or  six  weeks  after  the 
novitiate  has  gone  to  work.  Certain  ice  companies  "  check  off  " 
the  fee  from  wages  and  pay  it  over  to  the  union  treasury,  but 
this  practice  is  an  exception. 

THE  "  CLOSED  AND  OPEN  STABLE  " 

There  is  a  wide  diversity  among  the  agreements  respecting 
the  employment  of  union  members.  Some  of  them,  like  those 
of  the  railway  express  drivers  and  department  store  drivers, 
simply  say,  "  There  shall  be  no  discrimination  against  union 
drivers."  The  majority  are  similar  to  the  truck  drivers'  agree- 
ment, which  reads,  "  Party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  employ 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  55 

members  of  the  Truck  Drivers'  Union,  Local  705,  when  in 
their  power  to  do  so."  The  furniture  drivers'  agreement 
formerly  read  as  follows  :  "  Party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to 
employ  members  of  the  Furniture  Drivers'  and  Helpers'  Local 
No.  722,  or  those  who  will  make  application  within  twelve  hours 
after  receiving  employment  and  become  a  member  at  the  next 
regular  meeting  of  the  organization.  In  hiring  men,  the  union 
men  to  have  the  preference."  This  is  also  the  form  of  several 
other  agreements,  such  as  that  of  the  grocery  and  market 
wagon  drivers.  It  amounted  to  ah  open-shop  agreement,  and, 
because  advantage  had  been  taken  of  it  to  weaken  the  union, 
the  Furniture  Drivers'  Local  went  on  strike  at  its  termination 
in  October,  1904,  to  secure  a  closed-shop  agreement.  A  com- 
promise was  finally  made,  and  this  clause  was  changed  to 
read  :  "  There  shall  be  no  discrimination  against  union  drivers 
or  helpers.  In  hiring  men,  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to 
give  preference  to  members  of  Local  722."  In  practice  this 
new  agreement  makes  the  union  headquarters  the  employment 
office  of  the  wholesale  furniture  dealers. 

The  commission  team  owners  agree  likewise  "  to  employ 
none  but  members  of  Commission  Drivers'  Union,  Local  No.  3, 
in  good  standing  and  carrying  the  regular  working  card  of  the 
organization,  if  such  drivers  can  be  supplied  by  the  business 
agent  of  Local  No.  3,"  or  competent  men  who  are  willing  to 
become  members  of  said  Local  No.  3."  Besides  that  of  the 
coal  teamsters,  already  cited,  the  van  teamsters'  agreement  is 
strictly  closed  shop,  as  follows  :  "  Party  of  the  first  part  agrees 
to  employ  none  but  members  of  the  Van  Teamsters  and  Helpers 
Union,  Local  711,!.  B.  of  T.,  in  good  standing  and  carrying  the 
regular  working  card  of  the  organization." 

Whatever  the  form  of  these  agreements  they  operate  to  give 
members  of  the  unions  steady  employment  as  against  the  intro- 
duction of  outsiders.  Yet,  except  in  the  two  or  three  strictly 
closed-shop  agreements,  the  team  owners  say  that  they  can 
employ  any  man  they  see  fit,  whether  union  member  or  not, 
provided  they  pay  the  scale  and  he  joins  the  union.  They  dis- 
charge him,  however,  if  the  union  brings  charges  against  him 


56  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  does  not  admit  him.  The  high  scale  of  wages  makes  it  to 
their  interest  to  employ  experienced  men  who  know  the  depots 
and  routes. ,  Hence  in  the  case  of  the  team  owners'  associations 
the  open-shop  question  has  never  come  up.  In  others  it  causes 
friction  and  sometimes  strikes.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
laundry  business,  where  the  only  prolonged  strike  (which  has 
lasted  since  June,  1904)  turns  on  the  clause  of  the  former 
agreement  conceding  to  the  laundrymen  the  right  to  hire  non- 
members.  In  some  cases  the  union  cannot  furnish  members 
when  called  upon,  notably  the  ice  wagon  drivers  and  helpers, 
more  than  one  half  of  whose  members  leave  the  city  during  the 
winter.  On  this  account  they  take  in  some  300  new  members 
each  season  in  a  total  membership  of  1800.  Their  agreement 
reads  :  "  We  concede  the  employer  the  right  to  hire  all  Ice 
Wagon  Drivers  and  Helpers,  providing  he  notifies  the  officials  of 
the  Ice  Wagon  Drivers  and  Helpers  Local  Union  No.  2  within 
twelve  hours  after  employing  said  Drivers  and  Helpers ;  and,  if 
there  are  any  charges  against  said  Driver  or  Helper,  the  employer 
on  his  part  agrees  to  discharge  said  Driver  or  Helper  within 
twelve  hours  after  receiving  due  notice  from  the  officials  of  the 
Ice  Wagon  Drivers  and  Helpers  Local  Union  No.  2.  In  hiring 
men,  the  Union  men  to  have  preference."  The  above  twelve- 
hour  clause  is  found  in  most  of  the  open-shop  agreements. 

In  these  and  all  other  cases  more  reliance  is  placed  on  the 
daily  attitude  of  the  employers  and  their  representatives  than 
on  the  wording  of  the  agreements.  The  unions  stand  ready  to 
strike  on  evidence  of  persistent  discrimination,  by  which  is 
sometimes  meant  the  employment  of  nonmembers  when  mem- 
bers are  unemployed.  The  employers  on  their  side,  with  the 
exceptions  mentioned,  practice  conciliation,  and  realize  that  if 
they  kept  nonunion  men  in  their  employment:  they  could  destroy 
the  unions.  Furthermore,  the  teamster's  occupation  is  more 
exposed  than  that  of  any  other  craftsman.  Each  driver  is  an 
establishment  in  himself.  In  the  crowded  streets,  with  30,000 
teamsters  organized,  there  is  not  much  room  for  the  unorgan- 
ized. Actual  or  expected  violence  is  looked  upon  by  employers 
and  teamsters  as  a  matter  of  course.  Blockades  and  obstruction, 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  57 

as  well  as  violence,  are  effective,  and  all  union  drivers  are 
expected  to  do  what  the  truck  drivers  explicitly  command  in 
their  by-laws  :  "  All  members  of  this  local  shall  at  all  times 
while  on  duty  wear  his  union  button  in  plain  sight,  so  it  can  be 
seen  by  any  one.  Any  member  failing  to  do  so  shall  be  subject 
to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $i  for  each  offense." 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  agreements,  whether  "  closed- 
shop  "  or  "  open-shop  "  in  form,  are  "  union-shop  "  in  practice. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  reciprocal  feature  of  the  coal  teamsters' 
provisional  agreement,  which  forbade  union  drivers  to  work  for 
employers  not  members  of  the  team  owners'  association,  has 
been  eliminated.  In  its  place  the  following  was  substituted  : 
"The  organization  agrees  on  its  part  to  do  all  in  its  power 
to  further  the  interests  of  said  Association."  The  commission 
drivers  made  the  same  agreement  with  the  Commission  Team 
Owners'  Association.  The  van  teamsters  and  truck  drivers 
agree  not  to  further  the  interests  of  the  associations  of  team 
owners,  but  simply  to  "further  the  interests  of  their  employer." 
These  peculiar  clauses  do  not  mean  that  the  drivers  will  work 
only  for  members  of  those  associations,  since  there  are  drivers 
working  for  nonmembers.  They  simply  mean  that  the  drivers 
will  not  work  for  nonmembers  on  terms  more  favorable  than 
those  granted  to  members.  The  object  is  not  that  of  an  exclu- 
sive agreement,  but  to  equalize  competitive  conditions.  One 
result  undoubtedly  is  to  strengthen  the  team  owners'  asso- 
ciations, and  to  enable  them  better  to  maintain  their  official 
scales  of  cartage.  Prior  to  the  organization  of  the  unions  the 
owners'  associations  were  weak  and  ineffective.  Their  official 
scales  were  cut  by  destructive  competition.  Now  they  include 
nearly  all  the  team  owners,  who  seek  the  cover  of  the  associ- 
ation for  protection  against  the  union.  The  prices  for  cartage 
have  in  most  cases  been  raised,  but  it  is  impossible  to  know 
how  much.  The  official  cartage  scales  have  been  advanced  20 
to  40  per  cent,  but  this  is  not  decisive,  for  they  were  not 
enforced,  whereas  the  present  scales  are  fairly  well  enforced. 
The  double  wagon,  which  the  truck  owners'  scale  formerly  set 
at  $24  a  week  with  driver  and  which  was  actually  hired  by  the 


58  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

merchant  at  $22  to  $26,  is  now  hired  at  a  minimum  of  $31. 
The  single  wagon  has  advanced  from  a  nominal  rate  of  $18  and 
an  actual  one  of  $15  or  $20  to  an  official  $22  a  week.  The 
carriage  to  a  cemetery,  for  which  $5  was  formerly  charged,  now 
costs  $7.  The  official  scale  of  the  commission  team  owners  was 
always  charged  like  a  uniform  freight  rate  by  the  commission 
dealer  to  "the  shipper,  even  when  less  than  that  scale  was  paid 
by  the  dealer  to  the  team  owner.  In  this  case  the  new  scale  was 
made  by  agreement  between  the  team  owners  and  the  dealers, 
and  cartage  charges  were  raised  10  to  100  per  cent,  the  average 
on  the  bulk  of  the  business  being  about  30  per  cent. 

This  scale  and  all  others  are  placed  at  such  figures  that  the 
team  owner,  whether  member  or  nonmember,  who  pays  the 
union  scale  of  wages  cannot  make  a  profit  if  he  cuts  the  scale 
of  cartage.  The  scale  cannot  be  exorbitant  compared  with  the 
wages,  since  merchants  and  manufacturers  have  the  option  of 
hiring  their  teamsters  directly  for  the  same  wages  and  hours 
and  running  their  own  stables ;  many  of  them  do  so,  while 
others  prefer  to  sell  their  horses  and  wagons  and  let  out  their 
teaming  to  contractors  at  the  official  scale.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  a  teaming  contractor  assumes  the  liabilities  of  a 
common  carrier,  and  a  single  accident  to  his  cargo  or  to  a  pedes- 
trian may  wipe  off  the  profits  of  a  year,  or  even  his  entire  capi- 
tal. In  the  former  period  of  reckless  competition  no  margin  was 
allowed  for  insurance  against  such  catastrophes,  and  the  whole- 
sale merchant,  who  now  pays  the  increased  cartage  to  a  team- 
ing contractor,  pays  for  the  assumption  of  a  risk  that  formerly 
cost  him  nothing,  and  is  usually  overlooked,  when  he  does  his 
own  trucking,  until  the  accident  occurs. 

In  the  case  of  fares  and  charges  where  the  general  public  is  con- 
cerned, such  as  those  for  cabs  and  express  and  furniture  mov- 
ing, the  maximum  scale  is  usually  fixed  by  municipal  ordinance ; 
the  changed  conditions  simply  mean  that  the  legal  prices  are 
charged,  whereas  formerly  they  were  undercut.  In  the  case 
of  the  charge  of  Parmelee  (the  railway  baggage  express)  of  50 
cents  on  trunks  from  stations,  there  has  been  no  increase,  since 
that  was  fixed  by  agreement  with  the  railway  companies.  Other 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  59 

expressmen  have  advanced  their  25~9ent  charges  to  35  cents 
and  their  35-cent  charges  to  50  cents.  The  municipal  ordinance 
which  formerly  fixed  the  hire  of  cabs  at  25  cents  per  passenger 
per  mile  now  fixes  it  at  50  cents  per  trip  per  mile,  whether  one 
passenger  or  two. 

The  economic  basis  which  supports  these  official  scales  of 
cartage  in  competitive  lines  may  be  illustrated  by  the  case  of  the 
furniture  movers.  The  van  teamsters  reported  at  the  barn  not 
later  than  half  past  four  in  the  morning,  and  went  home  at  night 
when  their  work  was  finished.  The  employer,  not  paying  them 
for  overtime,  and  being  at  liberty  to  keep  them  as  late  at  night 
as  he  pleased  without  extra  cost,  often  figured  on  doing  a  cheap 
job.  if  the  customer  would  delay  the  beginning  until  late  in  the 
afternoon,  finishing  late  at  night.  The  labor  cost  for  such  a 
job  was  practically  nothing,  and  hence  there  was  no  bottom  to 
prices.  One  team  owner  could  not  tell  how  low  his  competitors 
would  be  willing  to  go,  nor  could  he  tell  how  low  he  himself 
could  afford  to  go.  Even  his  horses,  skeletonized  by  overtime, 
did  not  set  a  certain  minimum.  On  two  or  three  occasions  the 
owners  had  attempted  to  form  an  association  and  to  agree  on 
a  minimum  scale  of  charges,  but  their  agreements  were  always 
broken  by  the  temptation  so  easily  offered  to  get  the  teamster's 
work  for  nothing,  and  to  give  the  customer  the  benefit  of  the 
exploitation.  When  the  teamsters  organized  and  reduced  their 
indefinite  hours  of  90  or  more  a  week  to  a  .definite  60,  with 
25  cents  an  hour  for  overtime,  then  the  employer  could  see 
a  solid  foundation  on  which  to  maintain  the  prices  agreed 
upon.  The  result  has  been  that  the  unscrupulous  team  owner 
who  beat  his  competitors  by  cheating  and  overworking  his 
teamsters  has  not  been  able  to  continue  in  the  business 
and  the  other  class  of  owners,  who  regretted,  but  could  not 
remedy  what  some  of  them  now  describe  as  the  "actual 
slavery "  of  the  teamster,  are  more  prosperous  than  ever 
before.  Their  horses  and  equipment  are  better  cared  for,  and 
their  services  to  the  public  better  performed.  True,  the 
"  public "  pay  higher  charges  for  cartage  than  before,  but 
the  complaint  from  that  source  has  partly  subsided.  In  view 


;7 


60  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  the  facts  their  grievance  is  like  that  of  the  Roman  populace 
when  the  gladiatorial  combats  were  stopped. 

The  one-team  owner  who  drives  his  wagon  has  a  peculiar  and 
dubious  place  in  this  business.  He  is  the  connecting  link,  as 
it  were,  between  the  ancient  guild  and  the  modern  organiza- 
tions of  employers  and  workmen  on  class  lines.  He  is  eligible 
either  to  the  teamsters'  union  or  the  team  owners'  association. 
As  a  member  of  the  owners'  association  he  is  expected  to 
observe  the  scale  of  cartage,  and  as  a  member  of  the  union 
the  owners  ask  that  he  be  made  to  observe  it.  The  policy  of 
the  unions  on  this  point  is  to  have  less  and  less  to  do  with 
regulating  prices,  and  therefore  to  leave  the  one-team  owner 
free  to  do  as  he  pleases,  unless  he  employs  a  helper.  Of  course, 
he  needs  a  button  or  a  card  in  order  to  travel  uninterrupted, 
and  this  fact  induces  him  to  join  one  of  the  associations.  If 
he  joins  the  truck  owners,  he  gets  an  association  button  which 
the  teamsters  recognize.  If  he  is  an  ice  wagon  driver,  he 
requires  a  helper,  and  so  is  not  eligible  to  the  union ;  but  he  is 
given  a  card  certifying  that  he  employs  a  union  helper  and  is 
"  entitled  to  all  courtesies  and  respect  of  members  of  the  I.  B. 
of  T."  One  of  the  locals,  the  express  drivers,  is  composed 
solely  of  these  one-team  owners.  Their  charges  are  regulated 
by  municipal  ordinance  on  work  done  by  the  trip.  A  wagon  and 
driver  are  hired  by  the  week  at  $24.  They  can  work  as  many 
hours  a  day  as  they  please,  since  each  is  his  own  "  employer." 

The  interests  of  these  small  proprietors  lead  them  into  a  field 
foreign  to  that  of  the  ordinary  labor  union,  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  legal  activities  of  the  hack,  coupe,  and  cab  drivers.  Since 
1896  this  local  has  expended  $7000  in  securing  certain  rights 
of  common  carriers.  Formerly  abutting  property  owners,  includ- 
ing the  railway  companies,  leased  the  right  to  stand  on  the 
street  in  front  of  their  property ;  and  the  revenues  of  hotels 
from  this  seizure  of  the  public  highway  amounted  to  $50  or  $60, 
and  in  one  case  $200,  a  month.  The  cab  drivers  won  a  suit 
in  the  criminal  court l  and  another  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 

1  City  of  Chicago  v.  Wilson,  Chicago  Legal  News,  August  16,  1902. 


THE  TEAMSTERS  OF  CHICAGO  6 1 

Illinois 1 ;  and  now  any  driver  can  stand  on  the  streets  at  any 
place  designated  by  police  authorities.  Next  they  contested 
the  right  to  solicit  passengers  inside  the  depots  and  to  stand 
on  the  line  designated  by  the  railroad  authorities  for  Parme- 
lee's  drivers.  A  railroad  company  secured  an  injunction  in  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court,  and  the  union  carried  it  to  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals2  and  then  to  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  whence  a  decision  is  now  awaited. 

An  interesting  outcome  of  the  change  from  indefinite  to 
definite  hours  and  wages,  as  well  as  of  the  separation  of  classes, 
has  been  the  breakdown  of  the  "fatherly  feeling"  which  some 
of  the  team  owners  say  they  formerly  had  for  some  of  their 
teamsters.  They  learned  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  men  who 
had  been  in  their  service  for  many  years  and  to  share  their 
sorrows  and  joys.  Though  such  a  man  was  unfitted  for  other 
branches  of  work,  he  was  satisfactory  in  his  old  position,  if  he 
would  accept  a  lower  rate  of  pay  and  make  himself  generally 
useful.  Or  the  owner  employed  a  boy  at  $i  a  day  out  of  regard 
for  his  widowed  mother.  Now  the  union  comes  between  the 
owner  and  his  teamster.  It  compels  the  owner  to  advance  his 
pay  by  $3  or  $6  a  week  to  a  minimum  rate.  It  requires  a  higher 
rate  for  that  overtime  in  which  the  teamster  had  shown  his 
general  usefulness.  The  teamster  takes  his  orders  from  the 
union  and  becomes  a  party  to  the  coercion.  Estrangement 
follows.  The  owner  cannot  afford  to  keep  the  man  or  boy  at 
the  higher  rates  of  pay.  He  must  have  vigorous  young  men. 
He  has  discharged  the  boys.  A  large  manufacturer  has  cut  off 
the  two  weeks'  vacation  on  full  pay  which  he  formerly  gave  to 
his  teamsters.  The  bargain  has  lost  its  indefinite,  easy,  fatherly 
relation  of  "  give-and-take,"  and  has  become  a  close  calculation. 

A  similar  estrangement  occurs  between  the  team  owner  and 
his  customers,  "the  public."  The  merchant  or  manufacturer 
was  formerly  willing  to  let  the  truck  owner  send  an  old  man  or 
a  boy  with  the  team,  which  he  got  for  a  dollar  or  two  less  a 
week  on  that  account.  The  small  team  owner,  with  inferior 

1  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  v.  City  of  Chicago,  181  111.  289. 

2  Donovan  et  al.  v.  The  Pennsylvania  Co.,  116  Fed.  907,  120  Fed.  215  (1903). 


62  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

equipment,  formerly  secured  trade  by  making  concessions  in 
price.  Now  he  must  have  just  as  good  a  team,  just  as  large  a 
wagon,  or  just  as  attractive  a  van  as  his  wealthy  competitor  in 
order  to  get  the  trade.  The  public  has  lost  its  desire  to  help 
out  the  poor  team  owner.  Its  friendly  feeling,  like  the  fatherly 
feeling  of  the  team  owner,  disappears  when  no  longer  paid  for. 
Thus  has  the  cash  nexus  of  unionism  uncovered  and  dislodged 
a  certain  amount  of  unconscious  hypocrisy. 

Naturally,  at  first,  the  team  owners  were  at  sea  in  dealing 
with  the  new  situation.  Having  lost  the  personal  control  of 
their  teamsters,  it  seemed  to  them  that  they  must  control  the 
organization  that  had  come  between  them.  But  these  organiza- 
tions in  turn  seemed  to  be  simply  the  union  leaders  and  officers. 
Consequently,  an  era  of  corruption  was  ushered  in,  the  em- 
ployers turning  over  their  funds  to  Driscoll,  a  "  labor  expert," 
but  not  a  team  owner,  who  knew  how  to  handle  the  leaders. 
This  continued,  as  described  above,  until  the  unions  had  time 
to  learn  self-government  and  depose  the  leaders  who  assumed 
to  sell  and  deliver  them.  They  also  took  from  the  business 
agents  their  votes,  though  not  their  seats,  in  the  joint  team- 
sters' council.  The  team  owners  then,  perforce,  changed  their 
policy.  They  deposed  Driscoll,  and  elected  plain  business  men, 
team  owners  like  themselves.  The  policy  of  these  men  is 
what  they  describe  as  "fair  dealing."  They  try  to  remedy 
every  grievance,  open  and  aboveboard,  on  its  merits.  They 
realize  that  the  team  owner  who,  by  a  corrupt  bargain  with  the 
union  agent,  is  not  compelled  to  remedy  the  grievance  of  his 
teamster  has  thereby  an  advantage  over  his  competitors. 
Equal  treatment  is  as  necessary  to  preserve  the  team  owners' 
association  as  it  is  to  preserve  the  teamsters'  union.  In  this 
way  they  cultivate  what  they  call  a  "friendly  feeling"  with  the 
teamsters  in  place  of  the  former  paternal  feeling. 

This  new  kind  of  friendly  feeling,  while  severe  on  individuals 
here  and  there,  accords  with  the  teamster's  view  of  himself. 
From  what  has  already  been  said  of  his  work  and  wages  it  fol- 
lows that  he  is  more  than  the  mere  unskilled  laborer,  as  is  gen- 
erally assumed.  He  is  sometimes  a  traveling  salesman  and  at 


THE  TEAMSTERS'OF  CHICAGO  63 

least  a  traveling  representative.  Even  the  ordinary  teamster 
looks  upon  his  occupation  as  a  craft,  and  the  object  of  his  union 
is  to  have  it  recognized  as  such.  He,  like  the  salesman,  is  really 
a  man  of  the  world,  —  comes  in  contact  with  many  classes  of 
people  and  learns  to  deal  with  men  as  well  as  to  handle  material. 
His  work  is  a  constant  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  in  a  strug- 
gle for  business,  without  the  aid  of  a  foreman  to  do  his  thinking. 
He  must  know  the  depots,  the  streets,  and  the  best  routes.  He 
is  intrusted  with  his  employer's  property  and  with  his  employer's 
responsibilities  as  a  common  carrier  for  goods  hauled  and  for 
pedestrians  injured.  He  often  requires  special  attributes  of 
carefulness  and  promptness.  The  van  teamster  cites  with  pro- 
fessional pride  the  expensive  furniture  moved  from  a  fashion- 
able dwelling  without  a  scratch.  The  commission  team  driver 
feels  his  responsibility  for  perishable  goods  and  for  prompt  and 
careful  handling.  The  garbage  collector  calls  himself  the  sani- 
tary teamster.  The  helpers  of  the  machinery-moving  and  safe- 
moving  teamsters  are  millwrights. 

Now  the  efforts  of  the  teamsters  to  have  these  qualities  rec- 
ognized as  distinguishing  a  craft  and  not  common  to  the  mere 
laborer  are  seen  in  some  of  their  policies.  First,  there  is  the 
enforcement  of  weekly  salaries,  as  far  as  possible,  instead  of  pay- 
ment by  the  load  or  laying  a  man  off  when  work  is  interrupted. 
This  policy  leads  the  employer  to  "  bunch  "  his  work  better,  — 
to  keep  a  man  steadily  employed  in  place  of  letting  him  "  hang 
around,"  waiting  for  work.  Of  course,  trade  in  some  lines  is 
seasonal,  and  allowance  for  this  is  made  by  classifying  em- 
ployees as  "  steady  men  "  and  "  extra  drivers  and  helpers." 
The  latter  in  some  cases  are  paid  by  the  hour;  the  livery 
"tripper,"  by  25  per  cent  of  the  liveryman's  charge.  They 
are  considered  as  serving  a  kind  of  apprenticeship,  while  for 
the  "  steady  men  "  in  slack  times  the  old  employee  is  to  have  the 
preference,  being  the  last  laid  off  and  the  first  taken  on. 
The  closed-shop  policy,  also,  is  justified  as  the  protection  of 
their  craft  against  the  "farmer"  or  the  "hobo,"  who  can  drive 
a  wagon  but  is  not  a  teamster.  As  long,  too,  as  the  minimum 
wage  can  be  maintained,  the  team  owner  is  not  inclined  to 


64  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

employ  these  inexperienced  and  less  reliable  drivers.  That  the 
hope  of  the  teamster  to  make  his  calling  a  craft  is  being  real- 
ized is  borne  out  by  the  witness  of  team  owners,  who  speak 
sometimes  with  enthusiasm  of  the  superior  character  of  the 
men  who  have  come  to  the  front.  The  "bums  "  are  gradually 
weeded  out  by  the  employers  themselves.  Men  of  integrity 
and  self-respect  secure  the  offices,  and  the  worldly  wisdom  of 
the  teamster  makes  him  amenable  to  reason  and  fair  dealing. 
He  harbors  no  resentment  on  account  of  his  former  treatment, 
for  he  acknowledges  that  the -team  owners  were  themselves 
victims  of  destructive  competition. 

Yet  the  employers  do  not  feel  that  their  sailing  is  smooth  or 
the  future  certain.  The  former  defeated  corruptionist  and  a 
few  adroit  employers,  still  seeking  to  "tie  up  "  a  competitor  in 
business,  are  able  to  foment  occasional  petty  strikes  and  viola- 
tions of  agreements.  Equally  serious  are  the  enormous  advances 
in  wages  and  the  self-confident  demands  of  the  unions  for  more 
and  still  more,  and  most  serious  of  all  is  the  prospect  of  sym- 
pathetic strikes  on  behalf  of  other  unions  unable  to  win  on  their 
own  account.  It  is  evident  that  employers  are  understanding 
each  other  better  and  are  preparing  for  united  action.  Many 
of  them  consider  the  teamster  as  the  keystone  of  Chicago 
unionism.  The  freight  tunnel,  now  completed  under  all  the 
down-town  streets,  is  expected  to  free  them  from  an  event  like 
the  freight  handlers'  strike.  But  prediction  would  be  vain. 

J.  R.  COMMONS. 

P.S.  —  Even  before  the  publication  of  the  foregoing  article  in  the  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics  in  May,  1905,  a  sympathetic  strike  was  "called"  by  the 
teamsters  in  behalf  of  the  garment  workers,  and  is  now  in  progress  (July). 
This  strike  was  a  violation  of  their  agreements  with  the  team  owners,  and  it  has 
been  accompanied  with  the  importation  of  Negro  strike  breakers,  with  street  riots 
and  blockades,  with  violence  upon  scores  of  persons,  with  the  loss  of  several  lives, 
with  heavy  damage  to  many  lines  of  business,  and  with  large  expenditures  for 
additional  police  protection.  A  grand  jury  has  been  summoned  to  investigate  the 
charges  of  corruption  in  this  and  earlier  strikes  of  the  teamsters  and  to  return 
indictments  for  conspiracy,  assault,  and  murder.  T  R  C 


IV 
THE   NEW  YORK   BUILDING  TRADES1 

The  employers  and  work  people  in  New  York  who  have 
been  familiar  with  the  building  trades  during  the  year  1903 
universally  agree  that  never  in  their  experience  have  they  met 
so  tangled  a  situation.  A  succession  of  strikes,  lockouts,  and 
criminal  prosecutions  of  walking  delegates,  growing  out  of 
trade  jurisdiction,  rival  organizations,  and  union  misrule,  and 
ending  in  the  organization  of  the  employers  and  a  reorganization 
of  the  industry  with  a  joint  arbitration  board,  make  this  a 
significant  and  interesting  labor  dispute  of  the  year  1903. 

The  storm  center  of  the  disturbance  was  the  United  Board 
of  Building  Trades,  familiarly  known  as  the  "  Board  of  Dele- 
gates." When  this  board  was  created  in  March,  1902,  it  was 
confidently  expected  that  the  former  anarchy  of  jurisdictional 
strikes  and  dual  unions  would  be  remedied ;  and  the  board  was 
organized  under  the  advice  and  even  the  pressure  of  several 
influential  contractors  who  had  suffered  from  fights  between 
the  unions.  But  the  organization,  while  it  remedied  in  part  the 
evils  of  disunion,  brought  forth  the  new  evil  of  "  graft." 

The  first  Board  of  Delegates  in  the  building  trades  was 
started  in  1884  by  the  walking  delegates  of  the  only  four 
unions  that  had  such  officers  at  that  time.  These  delegates 
met  first  in  a  spirit  of  fun  and  sociability  and  without  authority 
from  their  unions.  The  board  was  extraconstitutional.  It  did 
not  realize  its  possibilities.  The  delegate  was  merely  the  busi- 
ness agent  of  the  union,  selected  to  carry  its  messages,  but 
without  authority  to  change  or  enlarge  his  instructions.  But 
there  was  one  circumstance  in  the  building  trades  that  served 
to  give  this  extraconstitutional  body  unexpected  but  useful 

1  From  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  XVIII,  1904,  pp.  409-437. 

65 


66  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

power.  This  was  the  necessity  of  prompt  action  in  dealing 
with  contractors.  The  building  industry  in  New  York,  as  well 
as  elsewhere  in  the  United  States,  unlike  that  in  England  and 
Europe,  is  conducted  on  a  system  of  subcontracting.  The 
mason  builder,  or  general  contractor,  secures  the  contract  from 
the  owner,  or  "client,"  and  generally  puts  up  the  brickwork; 
but  he  submits  by  competitive  bidding  all  the  other  work  to 
as  many  contractors  as  there  are  kinds  of  work.  This  sys- 
tem enables  the  contractor  to  enter  the  field  with  little  or  no 
capital,  since  it  is  usually  arranged  that  partial  payments  shall 
be  made  by  the  owner  to  the  general  contractor,  and  by  him  to 
the  subcontractors,  as  the  work  progresses.  A  subcontractor 
may  have  but  a  few  days'  work  on  a  job  ;  and  if  he  violates 
his  agreement  with  the  union  or  any  of  the  rules  the  union  is 
striving  to  enforce,  his  work  may  be  finished  and  his  men  dis- 
charged before  the  union  can  hold  a  meeting  and  call  a  strike. 
Consequently,  in  the  building  trades  the  unions  have  given  their 
walking  delegates  authority  to  call  a  strike  at  the  moment  when 
they  are  satisfied  a  rule  is  violated.  This  usually  occurs  when  the 
delegate  finds  a  nonunion  man  on  the  job,  since  a  nonunion  man 
is  not  supposed  to  observe  the  rules  or  wage  scale  of  the  union. 
The  delegate  then  reports  his  action  to  the  union  meeting,  where 
he  is  generally  sustained  as  a  matter  of  course. 

But  a  strike  of  a  single  union  on  a  job  may  not  be  effective. 
Then  the  delegate  must  bring  the  matter  home,  if  possible,  to 
the  general  contractor.  The  other  unions  are  working  for  other 
contractors,  and  in  order  to  hold  the  general  contractor  respon- 
sible, the  entire  construction  must  be  tied  up.  The  unions 
have  provided  for  this  in  advance  by  a  clause  inserted  when 
they  make  an  agreement,  which  reads,  "  A  sympathetic  strike 
shall  not  be  a  violation  of  this  agreement."  With  this  in  mind 
the  delegate  invites  the  other  delegates  whose  men  are  on  the 
job  to  meet  him  at  the  place,  and  he  endeavors  to  satisfy  them 
that  his  grievance  is  real  and  cannot  be  remedied  unless  they 
also  "pull"  their  men.  Here  is  the  occasion  for  the  Board 
of  Delegates.  They  meet  two  or  three  times  a  week  to  advise 
one  another  of  their  grievances  and  to  make  appointments  to 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  67 

meet  on  the  jobs.  If  the  Board  of  Delegates  is  recognized  any- 
where in  the  union  constitution,  it  is  informally  recognized  in 
this  provision  for  sympathetic  strikes. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  only  union  of  the  building 
trades  which  does  not  permit  the  sympathetic  strike  is  that  of 
the  bricklayers,  who  are  employed  by  the  general  contractor, 
while  the  unions  employed  by  subcontractors  hold  that  the 
sympathetic  strike  is  indispensable.  Naturally  the  bricklayers' 
delegate  has  never  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Delegates. 

To  return  to  the  origin  of  the  United  Board.  The  sociable 
board  of  four  delegates  inaugurated  in  1884,  not  realizing  its 
possibilities,  felt  its  way  only  by  gradual  steps  to  joint  action. 
The  unions  when  they  acted  in  sympathy  had  done  so  hitherto 
through  the  Central  Labor  Union,  a  representative  assembly  of 
all  trades  in  the  city,  meeting  once  a  week.  But  little  by  little 
the  Board  of  Delegates  took  independent  action,  and  so  prompt 
and  satisfactory  were  the  results  that  the  unions  quietly 
accepted  their  usurpations  and  other  unions  elected  delegates 
who  joined  the  board.  In  1890  the  board  had  become  entirely 
independent  and  dominant  in  the  building  trades. 

But  their  supremacy  did  not  long  continue.  Internal  factions 
and  conflicts  arose,  mainly  on  personal  ground&f'and  in.  1894 
the  board  divided.  For  six  years  two  hostile  boatds  were  in  the 
field,  the  Board  of  Delegates  and  the  Building  Trades  Council. 
In  some  trades  there  were  two  unions  claiming  the  same  work," 
one  in  the  board  and  the  other  in  the  council.  In  other  trades 
the  unions  attempted  to  enlarge  their  jurisdiction  to  cover  a 
different  trade  in  the  opposing  board.  Each  board  acted  as 
a  unit,  employing  the  sympathetic  strike  against  the  other. 
Employers  who  hired  men  from  one  board  could  not  get  men 
of  other  trades  from  the  other  board.  Building  construction 
was  continually  interrupted,  not  on  account  of  lockouts,  low 
wages,  or  even  employment  of  nonunion  men,  but  on  account 
of  fights  between  the  unions.  The  friendly  employer  who  hired 
only  union  men  and  also  the  unfriendly  employer  were  used  as 
clubs  to  hit  the  opposing  union.  And  the  friendly  employer 
suffered  more  than  the  unfriendly. 


68  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

No  doubt  the  merging  of  the  two  boards  into  the  United 
Board  of  Building  Trades  in  March,  1902,  was  welcomed  by 
employers  and  workmen.  The  board  included  all  the  strong 
unions  except  the  bricklayers.  Delegates  were  admitted  on 
credentials  signed  by  the  officers  of  the  union,  and  thus  the 
board  was  officially  recognized.  Its  objects  were  "  to  secure 
harmony  and  unity  of  action"  and  "to  stop  internal  war- 
fare." It  provided  arbitration  of  disputes  between  unions, 
and  a  penalty  of  suspension  for  the  union  failing  to  obey  a 
decision.  Some  fifteen  jurisdictional  disputes  were  thus  decided 
during  the  life  of  the  board.  In  but  one  case  was  a  decision 
defied  ;  and  this  one  defiance  began  the  movement  that  wrecked 
the  board,  as  will  soon  appear. 

The  United  Board  adopted  simple  and  effective  rules  for 
sympathetic  strikes.  A  union  might  act  independently,  but  if 
it  did  it  forfeited  support.  When  a  delegate  brought  in  his 
grievance  it  became  the  "property  of  the  board."  All  of  the 
delegates  having  men  on  the  job,  said  the  rules,  "shall  be 
ordered  to  investigate  the  grievance  and,  if  deemed  neces- 
sary, shall  have  power  to  order  a  strike,  provided  two  thirds  of 
the  committee  favor  said  strike."  Members  of  the  committee 
were  fined  $3  if  thirty  minutes  late  at  the  place  appointed.  If 
they  failed  to  agree,  the  delegate  had  an  appeal  to  the  board, 
where  a  majority  decided,  and  a  final  appeal  to  the  president  of 
the  board,  whose  decision  was  binding  on  him  and  the  delegate 
refusing  to  strike  in  sympathy. 

With  the  employers  unorganized  this  sympathetic  strike  was 
irresistible.  Soon  rumors  of  "graft"  and  "hold-up"  began  to 
circulate.  One  firm  was  said  to  have  paid  $2000  to  have  a 
strike  "called  off."  Statements  were  made  of  smaller  amounts 
paid  over.  It  was  declared  that  some  of  these  payments  went, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  to  members  of  the  union  as  compensation 
for  "waiting  time,"  that  is,  time  lost  while  on  strike.  Like  the 
Germans  in  the  war  with  France,  the  unions  compelled  the  con- 
quered to  pay  the  cost  of  the  conquest.  This  indemnity  policy 
was  praised  as  a  peace  measure,  and,  indeed,  such  it  was  in  a 
small  way  ;  but  the  defective  bookkeeping  and  accounting  of 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  69 

the  unions  left  opportunities  for  delegates  to  pocket  unknown 
sums  for  themselves. 

Probably  the  most  amazing  act  of  the  board  during  its  brief 
career  was  the  "hold-up"  of  the  Association  of  Interior  Deco- 
rators and  Cabinet  Makers  and  the  "sell-out"  of  the  Amal- 
gamated Painters.  The  latter  organization  was  a  partner  in  the 
board  at  its  origin  and  objected  to  the  admission  of  the  local 
branch  of  the  International  Brotherhood  of  Painters,  which  at 
that  time  had  but  a  few  hundred  members.  The  international 
organization  struck  against  the  employers  on  their  work  outside 
New  York,  and  thus  won  from  them  a  contract  to  employ  only 
Brotherhood  men  in  New  York.  The  Amalgamated  Painters 
had  the  support  of  the  Board  of  Delegates,  and  the  board  called 
out  the  other  trades  where  Brotherhood  men  were  employed. 
But  the  ring  in  control  of  the  board  offered  to  seat  the  Brother- 
hood on  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  Not  being  able  to 
get  this  from  the  union,  they  demanded  it  from  the  employers, 
who  contributed  $400  each  to  the  fund.  The  board  then  seated 
the  Brotherhood  and  remained  "neutral"  in  the  fight  between 
the  two  unions. 

How  extensive  was  this  blackmail  on  employers  or  on  each 
other  is  not  publicly  known,  but  it  seems  to  have  centered  in  a 
ring  headed  by  the  leading  spirit  and  organizer  of  the  board, 
Sam  Parks,  business  agent  of  the  Structural  Iron  Workers. 
More  serious  than  blackmail  was  the  alleged  partnership  of 
Parks  and  the  board  with  the  largest  firm  of  builders,  the 
George  A.  Fuller  Company.  This  company  operates  on  a  large 
scale  throughout  the  United  States,  and  it  had  introduced  a  sys- 
tem of  direct  employment  in  place  of  the  contract  system  of 
other  builders.  By  dispensing  with  subcontractors  and  doing 
all  its  construction  through  its  own  departments,  thereby  more 
easily  keeping  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Board  of  Delegates, 
it  was  able  to  complete  a  building  in  much  less  time  than  other 
builders,  —  an  item  of  money  value  to  its  clients.  It  is  known 
that  this  company  paid  considerable  sums  to  delegates  for 
services,  such  as  going  to  other  localities  to  use  their  good 
offices.  In  various  ways  it  had  the  friendship  and  confidence 


70  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  the  delegates.  On  the  other  hand,  mechanics  preferred  to 
work  for  it,  since  its  construction  was  on  such  a  large  scale 
that  their  employment  was  steadier  ;  and  workmen  in  the  build- 
ing trades  always  spoke  highly  of  its  treatment  of  the  men,  its 
prompt  payment  of  wages,  protection  of  life  and  limb,  and 
readiness  to  remedy  grievances.  It  is  certainly  true  that  the 
Fuller  company  suffered  little  or  nothing  from  strikes  during 
the  reign  of  the  United  Board,  while  other  builders  were 
continually  troubled. 

These  things  might  have  continued  longer  than  they  actually 
did,  had  it  not  been  for  two  weaknesses  of  the  board,  —  seces- 
sion of  the  carpenters  and  accession  of  the  team  drivers.  One 
was  a  weakness  of  discipline,  the  other  a  weakness  of  expansion. 
They  opened  the  way  for  employers  to  organize. 

Between  the  local  branch  of  the  old  English  organization, 
known  as  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners, 
and  the  American  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  there  was  a  long- 
standing feud.  The  Amalgamated  was  a  small  but  sturdy 
organization  of  700  members;  the  Brotherhood  claimed  10,000 
members.  Both  went  into  the  United  Board  in  March,  1902. 
The  Brotherhood  had  a  contract  with  the  Fuller  company  to 
employ  only  Brotherhood  men.  It  demanded  similar  agree- 
ments with  other  builders  and  was  extending  its  control  at 
the  expense  of  its  diminutive  rival.  It  finally  demanded  the 
dissolution  of  the  Amalgamated.  This  the  board  rejected.  The 
Brotherhood  withdrew  in  July,  1902.  From  that  time  until 
April,  1903,  the  board  permitted  Brotherhood  carpenters, 
although  outside  the  board,  to  work  with  other  unions,  and  tried 
to  remain  neutral.  But  the  Brotherhood  was  aggressive.  On 
certain  jobs  it  refused  to  work  if  Amalgamated  men  were  em- 
ployed. The  board  stood  by  the  Amalgamated  and  refused  to 
work  on  those  particular  jobs  with  the  Brotherhood.  The 
Brotherhood  decided  to  fight  the  board.  The  national  officers 
took  the  matter  up,  came  on  the  ground  with  their  treasury, 
and  on  April  7,  without  warning,  10,000  Brotherhood  carpen- 
ters began  an  amazingly  suicidal  strike  throughout  the  city. 
They  struck  not  only  in  the  shops  where  Amalgamated  men 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  71 

were  employed,  but  they  struck  in  shops  where  they  had  con- 
tracts for  the  exclusive  employment  of  their  own  members. 
The  motives  and  logic  of  this  self-destruction  are  explained  on 
the  ground  that  the  Brotherhood  throughout  the  country  had 
grown  so  rapidly  that  its  officers  had  "  lost  their  heads."  At 
any  rate,  all  buildings  were  tied  up.  The  Fuller  company  by  a 
quick  stroke  of  generalship  secured  nearly  all  of  the  Amalga- 
mated men  in  town  the  day  after  its  Brotherhood  men  quit  work 
and  so  was  not  seriously  affected.  At  this  point  a  meeting  was 
called  by  a  committee  of  the  Building  Trades  Club,  a  semi- 
business  organization,  and  the  Building  Trades  Employers' 
Association  was  started. 

But  the  carpenters'  strike,  big  as  it  was,  was  soon  eclipsed. 
A  small  union  of  building  material  drivers  had  been  admitted 
to  the  Board  of  Delegates ;  and  the  board  saw  in  that  union  a 
hope  of  controlling  the  entire  building  industry  by  the  easy 
means,  first,  of  shutting  off  the  material  of  any  "unfair"  con- 
tractor, and,  next,  of  unionizing  the  lumber  and  material  yards. 
The  drivers  represented  that  they  controlled  the  bulk  of  the 
teamsters  in  the  lumber  and  material  line,  and  the  board 
indorsed  their  proposed  demand  that  none  but  union  teamsters 
be  employed.  Here  the  board  overreached  itself,  and  its  ven- 
ture in  the  line  of  expansion  brought  it  to  an  unknown  conti- 
nent where  the  employers  were  organized.  The  Association  of 
Lumber  Dealers  and  the  Association  of  Brick  and  Material 
Handlers  are  close  organizations  of  fifteen  years'  successful 
operation,  controlling  all  of  the  yards  and  acting  together  under 
a  joint  secretary.  In  the  year  1 89 1  they  had  disastrously  defeated 
a  union  of  teamsters,  and  they  had  maintained  their  organiza- 
tion intact  from  that  time  as  an  exchange,  a  credit  association, 
a  social  club,  and  an  employers'  association.  The  drivers  now 
began  by  presenting  their  demands  to  one  yard  at  a  time; 
they  had  gone  as  far  -as  five  yards  when,  without  warning, 
every  yard  in  Manhattan  shut  its  gates.  The  secretary  of 
the  two  associations  notified  the  board  through  the  daily 
press  that  the  shut-down  would  continue  until  the  board 
revoked  its  indorsement  of  the  teamsters'  demand.  The 


72  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

carpenters'  strike  laid  off  10,000  men,  but  the  material  men's 
shut-down  laid  off  70,000.  It  continued  four  weeks  and  split 
the  board.  The  board  at  this  time  contained  thirty-seven  unions, 
of  which  twenty-two  belonged  to  the  skilled  trades  and  fifteen 
to  unskilled  occupations,  the  teamsters  among  the  latter.  The 
housesmiths,  led  by  Sam  Parks,  went  with  the  unskilled  unions, 
and  took  enough  other  trades  to  make  a  majority  of  one,  each 
union  having  a  single  vote.  The  skilled  trades  forthwith  seceded, 
formed  a  new  Board  of  Skilled  Mechanics,  revoked  the  indorse- 
ment of  the  teamsters,  and  the  dealers  immediately  opened 
their  yards. 

But  now  it  was  the  turn  of  the  material  dealers  to  be  sur- 
prised. They  had  deprived  the  builders  of  material,  and  now 
the  builders  were  ready  to  deprive  them  of  a  market.  Two 
years  before  there  had  been  a  vigorous  effort  to  organize  the 
builders  and  contractors.  Each  trade  for  many  years  had  had 
its  separate  organization,  but  it  had  not  been  possible  at  that 
time  to  create  a  central  body.  The  conflicting  interests  were 
too  great,  the  plan  of  organization  was  crude,  and,  more  than 
all,  the  unions  themselves  were  not  yet  centralized.  But  the 
material  dealers'  shut-down  furnished  the  opportunity.  While 
it  continued,  the  builders  completed  their  organization.  As 
soon  as  the  shut-down  was  declared  off,  they  declared  a  lockout. 
A  week  later  they  offered  to  the  unions  a  plan  of  arbitration. 

Unlike  the  former  plan  to  organize  the  employers,  this 
association  was  built  on  existing  foundations.  There  were 
in  existence  thirty  associations  of  employers  and  contractors  in 
the  thirty  different  trades  of  the  building  industry.  While  in 
the  former  attempt  at  organization  each  contractor  joined  the 
central  association  as  an  individual,  regardless  of  the  trade 
association  to  which  he  owed  allegiance,  in  the  present  associa- 
tion the  existing  trade  associations  enter  as  units  under  a  con- 
stitution binding  each  association,  while  its  individual  members 
are  required  to  be  also  members  of  the  general  association. 
The  autonomy  of  the  several  associations  is  left  untouched 
except  at  points  of  conflict  or  at  points  where  united  action  is 
necessary  in  dealing  with  the  unions.  In  other  words,  the 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  73 

Building  Trades  Employers'  Association  is  a  federal  govern- 
ment like  the  United  States,  in  which  the  individual  is  a  mem- 
ber both  of  the  general  association  and  of  his  trade  association, 
the  general  association  possessing  such  powers  as  are  delegated 
to  it,  and  all  other  powers  being  reserved  to  the  original  trade 
associations.  But  these  delegated  powers  are  broad,  for  they 
include  the  power  "generally  to  determine,  regulate,  and  con- 
trol the  conduct  of  the  members  of  this  association  and  the 
employers'  associations  represented  on  the  board  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  their  relation  with  their  employees."  Any  action 
dealing  with  prices  or  restricting  competition  is  especially 
excluded.  Every  member  of  a  trade  association  becomes 
thereby  a  member  of  the  general  association.  There  are  also 
"individual"  and  "associate"  members,  but  these  have  no 
voice  in  the  Board  of  Governors.  A  member's  dues  are  $40, 
which  are  paid  for  him  by  his  trade  association.  But  he  is  per- 
sonally required  to  give  bond  ranging  from  $500  to  $2500, 
with  a  surety  company,  "  to  insure  compliance  with  and  obedi- 
ence to  the  decisions,  orders,  prohibitions,  and  regulations  of 
the  Board  of  Governors."  The  amount  of  the  bond  is  made 
payable  on  the  mere  formal  notice  of  the  Board  of  Governors, 
and  is  stipulated  as  liquidated  damages  and  not  as  a  penalty. 
Latterly  the  association  recommended  to  its  members  a  form 
of  contract  containing  a  lockout  clause  exempting  the  con- 
tractor from  damages  where  such  lockout  is  ordered  by  the 
Building  Trades  Employers'  Association.  The  bonding  pro- 
vision of  the  constitution,  enforced  by  the  additional  clause 
that  a  member  cannot  resign  "  during  a  temporary  suspension 
of  business/'  is  counted  as  the  most  essential  and  effective 
feature  of  the  organization.  Taken  with  another  clause  of  the 
constitution,  it  amounts  to  compulsory  membership  in  the 
association,  —  the  parallel  to  the  unions'  "closed  shop."  This 
other  clause  reads,  "  To  promote  and  maintain  harmony 
between  the  different  trades,  it  is  recommended  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  shall  place  all  orders  for  work  requir- 
ing labor  at  the  building  in  any  trade  represented  on  the  Board 
of  Governors  with  members  of  this  association."  Since  the 


74  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Mason  Builders'  Association  has  taken  the  lead  in  the  move- 
ment, this  section  of  the  constitution,  although  a  recommenda- 
tion, is  practically  a  pledge  on  the  part  of  the  general  con- 
tractors that  they  will  sublet  their  work  only  to  members  of 
the  federated  associations.  Thus  have  the  employers  found  it 
necessary  to  bind  themselves  to  each  other  after  the  manner 
of  the  unions  with  which  they  are  dealing. 

At  the  same  time  the  practice  of  making  exclusive  agree- 
ments within  each  trade  seems  in  a  fair  way  to  be  broken  up 
by  this  larger  association  of  all  the  employers  in  the  industry. 
The  Stone  Trade  Association  has  not  been  admitted,  since  it 
has  an  agreement  by  which  members  of  the  Stonecutters' 
Union  work  only  for  members  of  the  employers'  association, 
the  union  treasury  receiving  a  bonus  of  10  per  cent  on  all  con- 
tracts. This  has  led  to  a  system  of  "  cooked "  bidding  on 
contracts.  The  arrangement  is  already  crumbling,  and  two  or 
three  stone  trade  employers  have  broken  away  and  have  applied 
for  admission  to  the  Building  Trades  Employers'  Association 
as  associate  members.  Four  associations  of  employers  which 
have  exclusive  agreements,  yet  without  the  obnoxious  bonus  or 
bidding  features  of  the  stone  trade,  are  represented  in  the 
Board  of  Governors.  These  are  the  plumbers,  the  steam  and 
hot-water  fitters,  the  marble  dealers,  and  the  tile  dealers. 

The  Board  of  Governors  is  made  up  of  three  representatives 
for  each  trade  association.  At  the  time  of  its  inauguration 
twenty  associations  took  part  through  their  executive  commit- 
tees. Soon  thereafter  thirty  associations  were  represented  on 
the  Board  of  Governors.  The  unit  rule  prevails,  but  each  dele- 
gate counts  one  vote  for  every  five  members.  Thus  the  three 
representatives  of  the  mason  builders  with  108  members  cast 
as  a  unit  21  votes  out  of  a  total  of  160  votes.  A  quorum  to 
order  a  "  cessation  or  resumption  of  work  by  any  or  all  of  the 
members  of  the  association  "  must  include  three  fourths  of  the 
associations,  and  the  affirmative  must  cast  four  fifths  of  the  votes. 
The  Board  of  Governors  meets  once  a  month  or  on  twenty-four 
hours'  notice.  The  association  meets  semiannually  or  on  request 
either  of  twenty-five  members  or  of  the  Board  of  Governors. 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  75 

There  were  three  evils  which  the  new  association  determined 
to  drive  from  the  building  industry,  namely,  sympathetic 
strikes,  jurisdictional  strikes,  and  the  power  of  the  walking 
delegate  to  call  a  strike.  The  Board  of  Governors  drafted  a 
plan  of  arbitration  designed  to  overcome  these  evils.  Since  the 
walking  delegates  were  the  objects  of  attack,  the  plan  was  not 
submitted  to  the  Board  of  Delegates,  but  was  addressed  to  the 
secretaries  of  the  unions  and  to  individual  members.  The 
unions  were  requested  to  meet  and  act  upon  it.  The  communi- 
cation contained  the  following : 

For  the  last  few  years  the  conditions  in  our  industry  have  been 
steadily  growing  worse  until  they  culminated  in  the  present  cessation 
of  work.  As  you  can  see  from  our  platform  and  plan  of  arbitration, 
we  have  but  one  object  in  view,  namely,  to  conduct  our  business 
relations  in  a  fair,  honest,  and  American  way,  and  we  want  you  to 
help  us.  ...  No  doubt  our  actions,  our  motives,  and  our  plans  will 
be  attacked  by  those  representatives  of  labor  who  are  unwilling  to  be 
deprived  of  any  powers  which  have  been  given  to  them  or  have  been 
assumed  by  them.  .  .  .  We  refuse  to  believe  that  the  rank  and  file  of 
labor  is  acquainted  with  many  of  the  acts  of  these  representatives 
and  of  the  conditions  which  exist  in  some  of  the  trades,  but  how 
grievous  they  were  is  proven  by  the  present  standstill  and  the  fact 
that  within  three  weeks  nearly  thirty  employers'  associations  of  our 
industry  have  become  a  unit,  as  a  living  protest  against  oppression 
and  extortion.  We  therefore  call  upon  every  conservative  and  think- 
ing mechanic  to  attend  the  meeting  of  his  union  and  register  his  vote 
against  the  un-American  methods  that  have  crept  into  the  trade,  and 
to  insist  upon  the  plan  of  arbitration  as  suggested.  .  .  . 

Unfortunately,  the  communication  to  the  unions  did  not 
contain  an  invitation  to  appoint  representatives  to  confer  upon 
amendments  to  the  plan  ;  and  since  the  employers  declined  to 
meet  the  walking  delegates  who  had  hitherto  conducted  such 
negotiations,  nearly  all  of  the  members  looked  on  the  plan  as 
an  ultimatum.  This  interpretation  was  afterwards  disavowed 
by  the  Board  of  Governors.  At  any  rate,  with  unimportant 
exceptions  the  unions  ignored  it,  and  in  many  cases  the  secre- 
taries did  not  even  read  it  at  the  meetings,  explaining  that  it 


76  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

did  not  bear  the  union  printers'  label.  The  communication  was 
sent  only  to  the  unions  of  skilled  mechanics  and  helpers  and 
not  to  the  unions  of  laborers. 

A  deadlock  ensued,  and  continued  for  three  weeks.  Mean- 
time the  New  York  Civic  Federation  addressed  an  invitation  to 
the  unions  of  mechanics  and  to  the  Board  of  Governors,  pro- 
posing a  joint  conference  to  discuss  the  employers'  plan  of 
arbitration.  The  Board  of  Governors  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  the  labor  members  of  the  Civic  Federation  went  to  the 
meetings  of  several  unions  to  urge  its  acceptance.  The  officers 
of  three  or  four  unions  prevented  them  from  getting  a  hearing, 
but  in  every  case  where  they  were  given  the  privilege  of  the 
floor  the  union  voted  to  send  a  committee.  It  was  privately 
arranged  with  the  walking  delegates  that  they  would  not  seek 
appointment  on  these  committees ;  and  in  the  conference  that 
followed  there  was  present  but  one  such  delegate,  who  took 
no  part  in  the  discussion  and  whose  presence  was  not  objected 
to.  The  conference  met  with  sixty  members  of  the  Board  of 
Governors,  and  with  fifteen  unions  represented  officially  and 
three  unions  represented  unofficially.  It  was  called  to  order  by 
the  chairman  of  the  conciliation  committee  of  the  Civic  Federa- 
tion, representing  employers,  and  a  report  on  credentials  was 
made  by  the  secretary  of  the  same  committee,  representing 
trade  unions.  After  brief  speeches  counseling  moderation, 
these  intermediaries  withdrew,  and  the  conference  proceeded 
to  elect  as  its  chairman  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Gov- 
ernors, and  as  secretary  the  president  of  the  Tile  Layers' 
Union.  The  conference  began  at  two  o'clock  on  July  3  and 
held  continuous  session  until  three  o'clock  of  the  morning 
of  July  4.  Amendments  were  adopted,  and  the  amended  plan 
was  signed  by  all  of  the  conferees.  An  adjournment  was 
taken  until  July  9,  when  three  "  explanatory  clauses "  were 
added.  In  this  final  form  it  was  printed,  and  submitted  to 
all  the  unions.  Within  three  weeks  two  thirds  of  the  unions 
signed  and  returned  to  work,  and  within  four  weeks  the  Gen- 
eral Arbitration  Board  was  organized  and  had  adopted  its  rules  of 
procedure.  With  those  unions  which  did  not  sign  negotiations 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  77 

were  conducted ;  and  in  a  few  cases  where  these  negotiations 
were  unsuccessful  "  scab  "  unions  were  organized,  with  which 
the  members  of  the  signatory  unions  worked  on  buildings 
without  protest. 

In  its  framework  the  arbitration  plan  is  identical  with  that 
originally  submitted  by  the  employers,  but  certain  amendments 
were  added  at  the  conference.  It  provides  that  unions  and 
employers  in  each  trade  shall  decide  all  questions  affecting 
only  their  particular  trade.  If  they  cannot  decide  and  cannot 
agree  on  an  umpire,  they  must  select  an  arbitration  board  out- 
side the  trade  from  the  list  of  general  arbitrators.  The  General 
Arbitration  Board  is  composed  of  two  arbitrators  elected  by 
each  employers'  association  and  two  elected  l$y  each  union,  the 
union  arbitrators  not  to  be  walking  delegates.  No  strike  can 
be  ordered  by  a  union  or  a  walking  delegate,  and  no  lockout  by 
an  employer  or  an  association  before  the  matter  in  dispute  is 
brought  before  the  General  Arbitration  Board  and  settled. 
This  includes  specifically  jurisdictional  disputes  and  sympa- 
thetic strikes,  as  well  as  appeals  on  matters  which  cannot  be 
settled  by  the  employers  and  unions  within  a  trade.  The  fol- 
lowing items  were  added  in  the  conferences  with  the  unions,  — 
only  members  of  the  unions  party  to  the  agreement  are  to  be 
employed,  and  the  employers'  association  agrees  to  enforce  this 
clause  on  all  contractors.  If  the.  union  is  unable  to  provide 
sufficient  workmen,  any  employer  may  bring  the  matter  before 
the. General  Arbitration  Board,  which  has  power  to  authorize 
him  to  employ  nonmembers.  Unskilled  trades,  not  being  parties 
to  the  agreement,  are  represented  through  mechanics  of  that 
trade. 

The  notable  fact  which  the  conferences  developed  was  the 
willingness  of  the  employers  to  add  the  items  which  the  unions 
requested  and  the  willingness  of  the  unions  to  accept  the 
framework  which  the  employers  proposed.  In  fact,  the  confer- 
ences resolved  themselves'  mainly  into  explanations  of  misunder- 
standings. So  impressive  is  this  fact  that  to  an  outsider  it 
might  seem  that  the  lockout  could  have  been  avoided,  had  the 
employers  in  the  first  place  simply  asked  the  unions  to  send 


78  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

representatives  to  a  conference.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  conference  excluded  walking  delegates,  who  might 
have  been  less  conciliatory,  since  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  clip- 
ping their  powers  that  the  conference  assembled ;  and,  more- 
over, the  walking  delegates  could  doubtless  have  prevented  the 
unions  from  electing  as  representatives  any  but  themselves, 
had  not  two  or  three  weeks  of  idleness  compelled  them  to 
realize  the  strength  of  the  new  organization  of  employers. 

However  this  may  be,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  first  con- 
ference the  union  representatives  proposed  that  all  lockouts 
and  strikes  be  declared  off,  that  work  be  resumed,  and  that 
thereupon  the  plan  of  arbitration  be  taken  up.  Several  unions 
stated  that  the  lockout  was  a  violation  of  existing  agreements 
with  their  employers,  and  this  was  peculiarly  true  of  the  brick- 
layers, whose  arbitration  agreement  with  the  mason  builders 
had  not  once  been  violated  in  eighteen  years.  Now  they  were 
locked  out  through  no  fault  of  their  own,  in  order  to  compel 
them  to  accept  an  additional  agreement  which  had  not  been 
offered  to  them  in  the  regular  course.  The  bricklayers,  indeed, 
on  this  account  refused  to  send  representatives  to  the  confer- 
ence. Several  other  unions  filed  the  same  grievance ;  and  this 
violation  of  existing  agreements  was  the  argument  of  greatest 
force  played  upon  by  those  who  were  able  afterwards  to  prevent 
various  unions  from  accepting  the  amended  plan,  satisfactory 
as  it  was  in  all  essential  points.  The  conference,  however,  pro- 
ceeded, on  the  request  of  the  chairman,  who  said,  "  Let  us  $ee 
what  we  can  do  with  the  document  first,  and  then  we  will  find 
out  what  our  future  action  is  to  be." 

For  the  evil  of  jurisdictional  strikes,  the  most  disastrous  and 
perverse  of  all,  the  unions  were  as  eager  to  find  a  remedy  as 
the  employers.  The  only  objection  offered  to  this  feature  of 
the  employers'  plan  was  the  probability  that  a  local  arbitrament 
would  decide  contrary  to  the  national  policy  of  the  two  unions 
concerned,  and  it  was  argued  that  the  matter  should  therefore 
be  left  to  the  local  unions  and  referred  by  them  to  the  national 
organizations,  without  any  trouble  to  the  employers  themselves. 
But  it  was  readily  answered  that  the  unions,  neither  local  nor 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  79 

national,  had  been  able  to  settle  their  own  disputes,  and  that 
therefore  the  employers  of  conflicting  unions  were  as  much 
interested  as  the  unions  themselves  in  widening  their  jurisdic- 
tion. This  clause  was  therefore  left  undisturbed. 

It  would  seem  that  the  most  radical  amendment  made  to  the 
employers'  plan  was  that  requiring  the  exclusive  employment 
of  union  men.  Yet  the  employers  explained  that  all  of  the 
existing  agreements  were  already  exclusive  and  were  to  con- 
tinue in  force,  and  that  the  proposed  plan  was  not  a  substitute 
for  those  agreements,  but  an  addition  to  them,  intended  only  to 
remedy  the  two  evils  of  sympathetic  and  jurisdictional  strikes. 
The  chairman  brought  out  strongly  this  position  of  the  employ- 
ers in  answering  a  question  whether  a  union  would  have  a  right 
to  strike  if  a  member  of  the  employers'  association  should  sublet 
a  part  of  his  work  to  a  nonunion  contractor.  He  replied  : 

If  any  nonunion  men  are  on  a  building  in  connection  with  union 
men,  and  our  employees  come  to  any  member  of  the  employers' 
association  and  notify  them,  at  once  we  will  notify  that  contractor, 
owner,  or  whoever  he  is,  that,  unless  he  removes  those  men  from 
that  building  at  once,  we  will  order  our  trades  withdrawn.  Is  that 
plain  enough,  gentlemen  ?  The  only  point  is  this,  gentlemen,  that  we 
expect  to  work  together  hereafter  for  each  other's  interests.  This  is 
distinctly  an  arrangement  between  your  association  and  ours.  The 
only  thing  is  that  we  shall  not  be  willing  to  interrupt  work  and  have 
every  one  do  as  he  likes.  We  will  have  a  regular  arrangement  for 
handling  those  cases,  and  you  will  get  your  redress  perhaps  quite  as 
quickly  and  with  less  loss  to  yourself. 

Since  the  unions,  however,  wished  the  new  agreement  to  be 
explicit  on  this  point,  the  matter  was  taken  up  and  discussed  at 
great  length.  It  developed  that,  while  existing  agreements 
were  exclusive,  yet  a  few  of  them  contained  a  provision  that  in 
busy  seasons,  when  the  union  could  not  furnish  men,  the 
employers  might  take  on  nonunion  men  on  probation  cards  or 
otherwise,  who  were  to  IOQ  discharged  as  soon  as  union  men 
appeared,  unless  the  union  chose  to  take  them  in.  To  care  for 
these  exceptional  cases  a  union,  spokesman  proposed  that  the 
employment  of  nonunion  men  in  emergencies  should  be  referred 


80  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

to  the  General  Arbitration  Board.  This  proposal  was  adopted 
at  the  second  conference. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above-quoted  reply  of  the  chairman 
and  from  the  arbitration  plan  that  the  employers  had  in  mind 
from  the  beginning  not  only  the  employment  exclusively  of 
union  men,  but  a  more  effective  and  less  expensive  enforcement 
of  that  rule  than  any  that  the  walking  delegate  with  the  sym- 
pathetic strike  could  contrive.  This  alone  has  taken  from  the 
delegate  the  bulk  of  his  duties,  since  under  the  rules  of  pro- 
cedure the  secretary  of  the  arbitration  board,  as  soon  as  a 
complaint  is  lodged,  notifies  the  contractor  to  remove  the  non- 
union man.  In  order  to  facilitate  this  procedure,  one  of  the 
early  acts  of  the  Board  of  Governors  after  the  arbitration  plan 
went  into  effect  was  to  notify  the  unions  that  they  should  not 
decline  to  work  with  nonunion  men  on  a  job  until  twenty- 
four  hours  after  filing  notice  with  the  general  secretary. 
The  employers  reasoned  that  contractors  who  employ  non- 
union men  are  not  members  of  the  association,  and  that  the 
plan  is  not  designed  to  protect  nonmembers.  If  the  union- 
ist were  required  to  work  with  the  nonunionist,  the  outside 
contractors  with  nonunion  labor  could  underbid  the  members 
who  employ  union  labor  at  higher  wages,  and  soon  members 
would  drop  out  of  the  association,  being  protected  just  as  much 
outside  and  getting  their  labor  cheaper.  Consequently,  to  let 
the  unions  enforce  the  union  clause  of  the  plan  within  twenty- 
four  hours  is  to  protect  themselves  in  paying  union  wages. 
There  have  been  three  or  four  strikes  under  these  conditions, 
and  they  were  promptly  settled.  The  outside  contractors,  being 
thus  placed  at  a  disadvantage  in  dealing  with  the  unions,  forth- 
with apply  for  membership ;  and  in  this  way  the  unions  them- 
selves are  strengthening  the  employers'  association. 

The  clause  affecting  unskilled  labor  is  one  where  the  employ- 
ers seem  to  have  departed  more  than  elsewhere  from  their 
original  program.  They  had  included  the  helpers'  unions,  such 
as  those  of  the  tile  layers  and  steam  fitters,  in  their  arbitration 
plan,  since  these  were  unions  of  apprentices ;  but  they  had  not 
included  the  laborers.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  skilled 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  8 1 

mechanics  had  seceded  from  the  Board  of  Delegates.  They 
took  the  position  that  the  majority  of  the  troubles  of  the  board 
had  sprung  from  the  unskilled  unions.  But  when  the  matter 
came  up  in  conference,  the  mechanics  argued  that  the  brick- 
layer, the  plasterer,  and  so  on  were  as  much  dependent  as  the 
employers  upon  their  laborers ;  that  they  could  not  disregard 
the  claims  of  the  laborers  for  protection  in  hours  and  wages ; 
and  that,  if  the  mechanics  bound  themselves  not  to  strike,  they 
should  also  be  in  a  position  to  hold  their  laborers  from  striking. 
The  employers  had  taken  the  ground  that  wages  and  hours  were 
not  involved  in  the  present  dispute,  and  when  a  union  repre- 
sentative proposed  that  the  wages  paid  to  unskilled  trades 
should  not  be  reduced,  nor  the  hours  increased,  and  that  the 
laborers  should  have  representation  through  the  mechanics, 
this  was  agreed  to.  The  first  case  of  arbitration  under  the  per- 
fected plan  was  that  of  the  plasterers'  laborers,  and  the  arbitra- 
tion board  awarded  them  $3.25  a  day. 

The  position  of  the  walking  delegate  or  business  agent  under 
the  arbitration  plan  becomes  similar  to  what  it  is  in  unions 
in  other  trades,  namely,  an  executive  officer  and  prosecut- 
ing witness  of  the  union.  His  legislative  powers  are  taken 
away  when  his  power  to  order  a  strike  on  his  own  judgment 
is  taken  away.  It  becomes  his  business  solely  to  look  for  viola- 
tions of  agreements.  The  procedure  under  the  rules  of  the 
arbitration  board  are  undoubtedly  slower  than  the  summary 
procedure  of  the  walking  delegate ;  for  instead  of  calling  out 
his  men  as  soon  as  he  sees  a  violation,  or  as  soon  as  he  can 
assemble  his  fellow-delegates,  he  must  submit  the  complaint  to 
the  secretary  of  the  union,  the  secretary  must  submit  it  in 
writing,  with  seal  attached,  to  the  secretary  of  the  arbitration 
board  (known  as  the  general  secretary),  and  the  latter  must 
address  a  copy  to  the  employer  complained  of  and  a  copy  to 
the  secretary  of  the  association  to  which  the  employer  belongs. 
Then  the  union  and  the  'employers'  association  become  the 
parties  to  the  complaint,  and  they  must  each  select  two  arbitra- 
tors from  the  General  Board,  not  members  of  their  own  organ- 
izations, who  must  meet  within  twenty-four  hours  after  notice 


82  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

is  sent  by  the  general  secretary.  Before  this  board  the 
business  agent  appears  as  a  witness.  Under  this  procedure 
decisions  at  first  seemed  painfully  delayed,  and  there  was  keen 
dissatisfaction  among  the  unions.  But  the  dissatisfaction  was 
such  as  is  always  found  where  constitutional  law  and  courts 
supersede  military  law  and  trial  by  battle.  They  are  the  defects 
of  deliberation.  Their  virtue  is  in  the  prevention  rather  than  in 
the  cure  of  wrong.  The  rules  have  been  liberally  interpreted, 
so  that  at  present  the  walking  delegate  makes  the  complaint 
directly  to  the  general  secretary,  thereby  avoiding  the  delay  of 
passing  it  through  the  hands  of  the  union  secretary.  It  has  also 
been  found,  as  predicted  by  the  employers,  that  petty  grievances 
are  disappearing.  The  combined  weight  of  the  entire  employ- 
ers' association  and  all  the  unions  is  brought  to  bear  upon  an 
individual  employer,  so  that  a  notice  direct  from  the  general 
secretary  usually  brings  a  correction  ;  at  the  same  time  the 
employers  are  careful  to  avoid  violations.  Of  course,  the  busi- 
ness agents  retain  all  their  prerogatives  in  dealing  with  con- 
tractors not  members  of  the  association,  and  for  this  purpose 
they  have  organized  a  new  Board  of  Delegates,  known  now  as 
the  Board  of  Representatives  of  the  Building  Trades  of  New 
York  and  Vicinity.  This  board  is  not  recognized  in  the  arbitra- 
tion plan,  nor  by  the  employers  of  the  association. 

The  General  Arbitration  Board,  composed  of  two  representa- 
tives of  each  union  and  of  each  employers'  association,  has  had  an 
interesting  and  peculiar  development.  As  originally  conceived 
by  the  employers,  it  was  to  be  not  really  a  board,  but  a  panel 
from  which  to  select  the  arbitrators  on  any  particular  dispute. 
It  was  to  elect  an  executive  committee  of  employers  and 
employees  in  equal  number  and  a  general  secretary,  and  these 
were  to  select  the  special  arbitration  board  whenever  the  par- 
ties to  a  complaint  failed  to  do  so.  The  powers  of  the  General 
Board  were  to  end  with  the  election  of  the  executive  committee. 
But  gradually  the  board  has  become  a  joint  conciliation  body 
for  the  building  industry,  endeavoring  to  settle  disputes  without 
resort  to  arbitration  or  else  arranging  the  terms  of  arbitration. 
At  first,  when  a  meeting  was  called,  the  union  representatives 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  83 

held  a  caucus  on  the  evening  preceding,  and  in  the  general 
meetings  the  two  sides  were  inclined  to  line  up  solid.  But  as 
the  earlier  suspicions  wore  off,  the  board  inclined  to  divide  more 
according  to  individual  judgment  of  the  merits  of  the  question 
and  less  on  class  lines. 

It  was  stated  above  that  several  of  the  unions  delayed  sign- 
ing the  agreement,  and  that  work  went  on  in  their  stead  with 
other  workmen.  The  fortunes  and  misfortunes  of  some  of  these 
unions  make  a  vivid  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  New  York 
building  industry.  So  prolonged  and  spectacular  was  the  fight 
of  one  of  them  under  a  dare-devil  leader  and  so  widespread 
were  the  sensational  accounts  of  its  doings  that  to  the  outside 
world  the  entire  industry  seemed  to  be  tied  up.  These  sensa- 
tions undoubtedly  made  owners  timid  and  retarded  new  enter- 
prises, and  this  timidity  of  capital  was  the  card,  and  the  only 
card,  that  this  union  had  to  play.  But  many  of  the  other  unions 
and  many  seceders  from  this  union  returned  quickly  to  work. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters,  after  blunderingly  starting 
the  revolution  and  finding  itself  already  starved  when  the  real 
tumult  began,  hurried  to  sign  the  employers'  agreement ;  and 
thus  by  an  unconditional  surrender  to  the  employers  it  won  a 
victory  over  its  rival,  for  the  Amalgamated  Carpenters  by  delay- 
ing to  sign  were  permanently  disbarred. 

A  different  outcome  befell  the  rival  unions  in  the  painters' 
trade.  The  Amalgamated  Painters  signed  promptly,  hoping  to 
bar  their  rival,  the  Brotherhood,  which  delayed  a  month.  But 
the  Brotherhood  had  an  exclusive  contract  with  the  Interior 
Decorators,  already  referred  to,  and  so  was  admitted.  The  Amal- 
gamated then  demanded  an  arbitration  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  discriminated  against  by  these  employers.  This  was  the 
second  case  before  the  board.  The  special  board  decided  that 
the  exclusive  agreement  with  the  Brotherhood  was  in  force 
when  the  joint  arbitration  plan  was  signed,  and  under  Article 
19  was  to  be  respected.  '  But  the  board  went  further  and 
ordered  the  Amalgamated  Painters  to  join  the  Brotherhood,  this 
being  the  national  organization,  adding  that  when  this  should 
be  done  and  the  rivalry  stopped,  wages  should  be  advanced  50 


84  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

cents  a  day,  to  a  minimum  of  $4.  This  latter  remarkable  deci- 
sion was  challenged  by  the  Amalgamated,  and  the  General  Board 
referred  it  to  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  promptly  de- 
clared that  the  board  had  exceeded  its  powers  in  ordering  a  union, 
party  to  the  agreement,  to  extinguish  itself.  The  award  of 
50  cents  of  course  fell  with  this  decision,  and  the  two  -unions 
of  nearly  equal  strength  continue  their  rivalry  within  the  board. 

A  jurisdictional  dispute  of  ten  years'  standing  between  the 
carpenters  and  the  wood  workers  was  decided  by  an  umpire  and 
is  enforced,  although  the  same  dispute  under  charge  of  the  two 
national  organizations  is  as  far  from  settlement  as  ever.  The 
same  is  true  of  another  dispute  which  for  fifteen  years  has  been 
venerable  with  the  critics  of  unions  and  has  caused  more  incon- 
venience than  any  jurisdictional  matter  in  the  building  line. 
This  is  the  contest  between  the  bricklayers  and  electrical 
workers.  In  their  case  the  two  employers'  associations  joined 
with  their  respective  unions  as  parties  to  the  complaint.  The 
question  was  as  to  which  union  should  cut  the  brickwork  or 
fireproofing  necessary  for  the  installation  of  electric  conduits. 
The  decision  is  recognized  by  competent  parties  as  not  merely 
"  splitting  the  difference,"  but  as  a  reasonable  division  according 
to  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  work. 

The  contest  that  centered  about  the  Structural  Iron  Workers' 
Union,  or  rather  a  faction  of  that  union,  was  the  one  of  most 
dramatic  interest.  The  leader  of  the  union  was  its  delegate, 
Sam  Parks,  who  also  organized  the  Board  of  Delegates,  and 
headed  its  corrupt  clique.  Parks  claimed  the  credit  of  having 
raised  the  iron  workers  from  an  ill-paid,  disorganized  rabble  at 
$2.50  a  day  to  a  powerful  union  of  4000  men  at  $4  a  day.  But 
this  credit  belongs  also  to  the  conditions  of  the  trade,  for  wages 
elsewhere  had  risen  in  similar  proportion.  This  fact  the  union 
was  beginning  to  recognize  ;  and  a  faction  within  the  union,  dis- 
satisfied with  his  bullying  and  dishonest  methods,  had  been  able 
a  year  before  to  elect  as  president  Robert  Neidig,  a  man  exactly 
the  opposite  in  every  respect  to  Parks.  Neidig's  faction  at  the 
semiannual  election,  January,  1903,  had  been  almost  able  to 
defeat  Parks  for  walking  delegate ;  indeed,  he  was  barely 


THE  NEW  YORK  BUILDING  TRADES  85 

elected  at  the  foot  of  the  list  of  four  delegates,  two  of  whom 
were  Neidig  men.  The  narrow  margin  discredited  him,  and 
the  Neidig  faction  was  confident  just  prior  to  the  July  elec- 
tion that  they  could  defeat  him.  But  the  employers  unwit- 
tingly came  to  the  help  of  Parks.  They  furnished  testimony  to 
the  district  attorney  on  which  he  was  arrested  for  extortion. 
He  and  his  faction  raised  the  cry  of  persecution.  He  appealed 
to  his  union  to  vindicate  him  by  an  election,  boasting  that  the 
employers  would  then  drop  the  prosecution  and  promising  at 
once  to  resign.  His  appeal  was  all  the  more  taking  because  the 
particular  charge  on  which  he  was  arrested  was  a  case  where  he 
had  collected  $2000  "waiting  time"  for  his  men;  the  men 
had  actually  received  the  money,  or  a  part  of  it,  and  had  voted 
him  a  diamond  ring  in  admiration  of  his  services.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  this  case  was  dropped  by  the  district  attorney,  and 
Parks  when  he  was  convicted  three  months  later  was  sentenced 
on  another  charge  of  taking  $250  at  a  different  time  and  place. 
He  secured  his  vindication  and  was  reflected,  but  Neidig  and 
his  faction  carried  all  the  other  offices  but  one.  Parks  did  not 
resign,  but  made  the  most  desperate  fight  of  which  his  bullying 
methods  were  capable.  He  drove  Neidig  from  the  chair  and 
Neidig's  faction  from  the  hall,  and  essayed  even  to  capture  the 
national  convention  and  displace  the  national  president,  who  had 
meanwhile  expelled  his  union.  He  succeeded  in  having  his 
union  reinstated  and  failed  by  only  three  votes  to  put  his  man 
in  the  presidency.  His  union  depleted  its  treasury  in  his 
defense  before  the  court ;  but  he  was  convicted,  as  were  two 
confederates  in  other  unions.  About  this  time  the  Fuller 
company  joined  the  employers'  association  and  paid  a  heavy 
fine.  The  success  of  the  plan  of  arbitration  was  evident.  There- 
upon a  "  neutral"  element  in  the  Iron  Workers'  Union  gained 
control.  It  appointed  a  new  strike  committee,  with  power  to 
make  a  settlement  with  the  Iron  League,  the  trade  association 
of  employers.  But  the  employers  meanwhile  had  organized  the 
Independent  Housesmiths'  Union  of  New  York,  with  a  state 
charter>  and  had  entered  into  an  exclusive  agreement  with  it. 
The  foremen,  with  Neidig,  had  held  aloof  from  Parks  and  his 


86  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

faction,  though  retaining  membership  in  the  union ;  and  they 
undertook  to  teach  the  new  men  gathered  in  the  new  union. 
This  was  possible  because  the  structural  iron  worker  is  not 
strictly  a  skilled  mechanic.  He  is  simply  a  riveter,  working  in 
a  gang  on  a  sky-scraper  or  a  bridge.  The  iron  framework  is  con- 
structed in  the  shop,  where  the  pieces  are  shaped  and  the  holes 
are  drilled  ready  for  the  rivets.  The  requirements  for  the  trade 
are  not  so  much  mechanical  skill  as  recklessness  and  daring. 
The  men  say  they  do  not  die,  but  are  jerked  over  the  river. 
The  strength  of  the  union  is  the  danger  of  the  trade  and  the 
rivet  that  drops  on  the  head  of  the  nonunion  man.  This  ac- 
counts in  part  for  the  success  of  a  man  like  Parks,  and  makes 
all  the  more  surprising  the  success  of  a  churchgoer  like  Neidig. 
For  three  months  after  Parks'  removal  negotiations  continued. 
National  officers  of  the  union,  the  executive  committee  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  committees  of  central  bodies 
took  a  hand,  but  without  result.  Work  proceeded  with  the  new 
union.  The  employers  did  not  wish  to  run  the  risk  of  another 
Parks,  and  the  new  union  stood  on  its  agreement.  But  a 
settlement  to  be  permanent  must  be  in  harmony  with  the 
national  organization,  of  which  the  Parks  union  still  held  the 
local  charter.  Finally,  Neidig  was  induced  to  take  hold.  He 
brought  about  the  dissolution  of  both  unions,  a  reorganiza- 
tion into  four  locals  chartered  by  the  national  organization,  to 
be  governed  by  a  representative  district  council,  a  committee 
on  membership  with  himself  at  the  head  to  exclude  the 
"vicious  and  criminal  element,"  acceptance  of  the  employers' 
plan,  and  an  agreement  with  the  Iron  League.  This  closed  the 
last  breach,  and  in  January,  1904,  was  rounded  out  the  new  form 
of  joint  government  in  the  New  York  building  trades. 

J.  R.  COMMONS. 

[The  arbitration  plan  as  described  above  was  revised  in  March,  1905.  The 
principal  change  was  in  creating  a  General  Arbitration  Board  in  place  of  a  mere 
panel  of  jurors,  so  that  the  enforcement  of  agreements  and  awards  is  to  be  accom- 
plished through  the  joint  action  of  unions  and  employers'  associations  instead  of 
through  the  separate  action  of  the  latter.  The  plan  does  not  apply  where  nonunion 
men  are  employed.  —  J.  R.  C.] 


V 

THE  CHICAGO   BUILDING  TRADES   DISPUTE1 

During  the  past  year  (1900)  there  has  been  fought  out  in 
Chicago  a  contest  between  capital  and  labor  which  will  receive 
a  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  trade  unionism.  It  was 
one  of  the  longest  labor  conflicts  of  any  magnitude  in  the  build- 
ing trades  that  the  country  has  ever  known.  But  it  is  not  so 
much  its  duration  or  magnitude  or  costliness  that  has  given 
it  such  importance  as  it  is  the  principles  involved.  The  struggle 
.was  not  between  individual  employers  and  the  various  unions, 
but  between  the  federated  bodies  of  the  building  contractors, 
on  the  one  side,  and  of  the  building  trades,  on  the  other. 

The  point  at  issue  was  pretty  clearly  defined  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  controversy.  The  contractors  were  contending  for 
freedom  from  the  tyranny  of  ignorant  and  irresponsible  labor 
leadership  and  for  the  abolition  of  various  trade  restrictions. 
To  secure  this  end  they  sought  to  destroy  the  federation  of  the 
unions  and  to  deal  with  each  trade  separately,  while  the  unions 
insisted  on  the  maintenance  and  recognition  of  their  central 
body.  Other  issues  were  made  at  the  start,  but  they  were 
gradually  reduced  to  one,  —  the  maintenance  of  the  central 
organization  of  the  unions,  the  Building  Trades  Council.  The 
question  of  hours  and  wages  entered  only  incidentally  and 
never  for  a  moment  stood  in  the  way  of  a  settlement.  A  study 
of  the  labor  organizations  in  Chicago  is,  therefore,  necessary  to 
a  thorough  understanding  of  the  building  trades  dispute. 

I.  THE   BUILDING  TRADES   COUNCIL 

In  Chicago  the  labor  organizations  are  centralized  in  three 
councils,  —  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor,  the  Building 

1  From  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  XVI,  1901,  pp.  114-141,  222-247. 

87 


88  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Material  Trades  Council,  and  the  Building  Trades  Council. 
All  unions  are  eligible  to  membership  in  the  Federation  of 
Labor,  while  in  the  other  two  councils  only  such  trades  as  are 
connected  with  building  and  building  material  can  be  admitted. 
In  the  Federation  of  Labor  there  are  ninety-six  different  trades 
affiliated.  Many  of  the  same  trades  which  compose  the  Feder- 
ation are  also  members  of  the  other  two  councils.  The  Building 
Material  Trades  Council,  as  the  name  indicates,  is  composed 
of  trades  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  building  material,  such 
as  brickmakers  and  wood  workers.  There  are  in  all  forty-three 
unions  in  this  council,  representing  fifteen  trades,  and  the 
membership  is  about  33,000.  The  Building  Trades  Council 
is  a  compact  organization  or  delegate  body,  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  all  the  unions  in  the  building  trades.  About 
thirty-two  trades  were  affiliated  with  it,  and  at  the  beginning^ 
of  the  dispute  it  had  a  membership  of  from  25,000  to  30,000. 
Such  "  allied  trades  councils,"  as  they  are  called,  are  found 
at  present  only  in  the  building  and  printing  trades.1  The 
Chicago  Building  Trades  Council  was  organized  on  November 
22,  1890,  and  incorporated  under  the  general  incorporation  law 
of  Illinois,  on  March  14,  1892.  The  purpose  of  the  organization 
may  be  best  seen  from  the  preamble  of  the  constitution. 

The  object  of  this  council  is  to  construct  a  central  organization 
which  shall  subserve  the  interests  of  all  the  labor  organizations 
engaged  in  the  erection  or  alteration  of  buildings;  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  each  other  when  necessary;  thereby  removing  all  unjust 
or  injurious  competition,  and  to  secure  unity  of  action  for  their 
mutual  protection  and  support. 

The  objects  were  further  set  forth,  in  the  application  for  a 
charter,  as  follows  : 

To  promote  the  interests  and  welfare  of  all  trade  and  labor  organ- 
izations connected  therewith  and  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  such 
other  organizations  as  the  said  council  may  direct. 

1  Cf.  Wm.  M.  Burke,  "  History  and  Functions  of  Central  Labor  Unions." 
Columbia  University  Studies  in  History,  Economics,  and  Public  Law,  Vol.  XII, 
No.  i,  1899,  p.  116. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE         89 

The  representation  of  the  several  affiliated  unions  in  the  coun- 
cil is  based  on  their  numerical  strength,  no  trade  organization 
having  less  than  five  or  more  than  twenty  delegates.1  The 
thirty-two  unions  in  the  council  elect  about  200  delegates  to 
the  central  body,  which  meets,  once  a  week.  The  usual  cor- 
porate officers  are  elected,  but  their  duties  are  largely  routine, 
the  real  power  being  vested  in  the  standing  committees  and  in 
a  somewhat  anomalous  body  called  the  Board  of  Business 
Agents,  more  commonly  known  as  the  walking  delegates.  The 
standing  committees,  consisting  of  five  members  each,  are  a 
credential  committee,  an  organization  committee,  a  grievance 
committee,  and  a  legislative  committee.2  The  duty  of  the  organi- 
zation committee  is 

to  seek  out  every  branch  of  unorganized  industry  in  the  building 
trades,  use  every  effort  to  organize  them  into  unions ;  to  instruct  and 
enlighten  them  on  all  questions  relating  to  their  advancement  as 
working  men  ;  and  render  all  assistance  necessary  to  increase  the 
membership  of  all  the  different  organizations  affiliated. 

The  legislative  committee  is 

to  determine  what  legislation  will  be  best  for  the  interest  of  the  labor- 
ing man,  draft  bills  for  such  legislation,  present  them  to  the  proper 
legislators,  and  report  from  time  to  time  the  best  methods  of  securing 
the  passage  of  the  same.8 

The  imperium  in  imperio  is  the  board  of  walking  delegates, 
or  business  agents,  which  is  composed  of  all  the  properly 
elected  business  agents  of  the  various  unions  represented  in 
the  council.  The  object  of  the  board  is  "  to  unite  and  associate 
together  all  business  agents  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  assist- 
ance and  to  better  accomplish  the  work  in  all  parts  of  Chicago 
and  Cook  County."  4  It  meets  three  times  a  week,  for  the  pur: 
pose  of  rendering  all  assistance  necessary  for  the  enforcement 
of  the  various  trade  and  working-card  rules  of  the  council.5 
Every  sympathetic  strike  called  must  be  first  brought  before 
the  board  and  sanctioned,  although  the  business  agent  of  any 

1  Constitution,  Article  III.  2  Ibid.,  Article  VII.  8  Ibid.,  Article  VIII. 

4  By-Laws,  Article  II.  6  Constitution,  Article  IX. 


90  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

trade  can  call  a  strike  of  men  in  his  own  trade  without  consult- 
ing the  board.  The  Board  of  Business  Agents  has  a  set  of 
by-laws  governing  its  work,  independent  of  the  council,  and 
could  exist,  through  an  understanding  among  the  trades,  even 
if  the  Building  Trades  Council  were  disrupted.  Although  it  is 
not  necessary  to  be  a  delegate  to  the  council  to  entitle  one  to 
a  seat  in  the  Board  of  Business  Agents,  most  of  the  latter  are 
delegates  to  that  body  ;  and  when  a  measure  comes  up  in  the 
central  organization,  if  the  business  agent  of  a  certain  trade 
speaks  either  for  or  against  it,  he  usually  carries  the  entire 
delegation  from  his  trade  with  him.  Much  of  the  present 
trouble  is  laid  by  the  contractors  at  the  door  of  the  Board  of 
Business  Agents.  While  the  Building  Trades  Council  is  the 
superior  body  and  is  supposed  to  have  jurisdiction  over  the 
Board  of  Business  Agents,  the  conditions  are  practically  reversed; 
for  the  smaller  body  has  controlled  the  council.1 

The  working  cards  mentioned  above  are  issued  quarterly  to 
the  members  of  the  affiliated  unions  at  a  price  fixed  from  time 
to  time  by  the  council.  They  must  be  carried  by  all  union  men, 
and  may  be  demanded  at  any  time  by  the  business  agents  or 
by  fellow-workmen.2  It  should  be  noted  that  this  simple  device 
for  revenue  —  namely,  the  sale  of  the  working  card  —  is  really 
a  system  of  licensing  outside  of  the  law ;  for  it  is  implied  that 
no  man  shall  work  at  a  building  trade  unless  he  is  in  possession 
of  such  a  card.3 

The  most  important  sections  of  the  constitution  are  those 
relating  to  strikes  and  arbitration.  Article  XII  provides  that 
action  on  agreements  or  demands  for  an  advance  in  wages  or 
an  abridgment  in  the  hours  of  labor,  if  concurred  in  by  two 
thirds  of  all  trades  present  in  the  council,  shall  be  binding  on 
all.  But  any  trade  may  act  on  its  own  responsibility.  Article 
XIII  is  sufficiently  important  to  be  quoted  in  full. 

1  On  August  17  this  was  partially  remedied  by  giving  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Building  Trades  Council  full  power  to  act  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
calling  of  strikes  and  the  general  conduct  of  business. 

2  Constitution,  Articles  XI  and  XVI. 

3  S.  H.  Wright,  "  A  Local  Phase  of  Labor  Combination  "  (a  paper  read  before 
the  Chicago  Literary  Club,  November  27,  1899,  and  privately  printed),  p.  12. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE         91 

When  trouble  occurs  on  any  building  or  job  affecting  any  trade 
represented  in  this  council,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  business  agent 
to  immediately  endeavor  to  settle  same  with  contractor  or  owner  in 
accordance  with  the  trade  rules  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  trade 
involved.  Failing  in  this  and  a  strike  being  necessary,  the  business 
agent  shall  have  power  to  call  a  general  strike,  but  before  doing  so 
he  shall  lay  the  matter  before  the  council  or  board  of  business 
agents  at  their  next  meeting  and  be  governed  by  their  action  or 
decision,  which  shall  be  equally  binding  on  all  trades  in  this  Council 
engaged  on  the  job  or  building.  When  a  trade  has  no  business 
agent  the  chairman  of  the  board  shall  have  power  to  call  members 
of  said  trade  off  when  strike  is  ordered.  It  shall  require  a  majority 
of  the  trades  voting  to  order  a  strike.  Unit  rule  to  prevail. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  it  is  practically  in  the  power  of 
a  majority  of  the  business  agents  of  the  trades  interested  to 
order  a  general  strike.  There  is  no  provision  made  for  a 
referendum  vote  on  such  a  question  by  the  total  membership, 
nor  is  such  a  vote  taken  in  practice. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  proportion  of  those 
engaged  in  the  building  trades  of  Chicago  are  members  of  the 
affiliated  unions,  but  figures  on  that  point  are  confessedly  only 
guesses.1  Some  of  the  smaller  and  better  organized  unions 
practically  include  all  the  workers  in  the  respective  trades  : 
such  are  the  hoisting  engineers,  the  architectural  iron  workers, 
the  stonecutters,  the  mosaic  tile  layers,  the  plumbers,  and  the 
gas  fitters.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  larger  trades  —  as 
the  carpenters,  the  hod  carriers,  and  the  painters  —  are  not  so 

1  The  following  unions,  with  their  approximate  memberships,  are  members  of 
the  Building  Trades  Council :  Architectural  Iron  Workers  (300),  Bridge  and  Struc- 
tural Iron  Workers  (700),  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons  (3500),  Carpenters  (5230), 
Boiler  Makers  (500),  Electrical  Mechanics  (500),  Elevator  Constructors  (350),  Gas- 
fitters  (400),  Gas-Fixture  Hangers  (125),  Gravel  Roofers  (250),  Hod  Carriers  and 
Building  Laborers  (5200),  Hoisting  Engineers  (160),  Lathers  (600),  Marble  Cut- 
ters (100),  Marble  Cutters'  Helpers  (100),  Italian  Mosaic  Workers  (200),  Mosaic 
and  Encaustic  Tile  Layers  (100),  Mosaic  Helpers  (100),  Mosaic  Glass  Workers 
(100),  Painters  (3500),  Plasterers  (1200),  Plumbers  (1400),  Paper  Hangers  (400), 
Sheet-Metal  Workers  (400),  Steam  Fitters  (300),  Junior  Steam  Fitters  (300),  Slate 
and  Tile  Roofers  (150),  Stonecutters  (800),  Stone  Derrickmen  (200),  Stone 
Sawyers  and  Rubbers  (275),  Stone  Carvers  (100),  Tunnel  Miners  (300)  ;  total, 
thirty-two  unions,  with  a  membership  of  about  30,000. 


92  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

well  unionized.  Within  the  city  of  Chicago  the  greater  part  of 
the  workers  belong  to  the  unions,1  but  in  the  suburbs  and 
outside  of  the  city  they  are  not  so  well  organized. 

II.  THE  CONTRACTORS  COUNCIL 

Corresponding  to  the  Building  Trades  Council  there  exists 
in  Chicago  a  parallel  organization  of  employers,  known  as  the 
Building  Contractors  Council.2  This  is  a  close  federation  of 
some  fourteen  associations  of  employers,  representing  about 
2500  individuals  or  firms.3  A  temporary  organization  had 
been  effected  as  early  as  1894  in  the  form  of  a  building  con- 
ference committee,  composed  of  eight  or  nine  trade  associa- 
tions;  but  the  present  body  dates  from  April,  1899,  when  it 
was  organized  for  the  express  purpose  of  opposing  the  Building 
Trades  Council.  It  was  perfected  in  September  of  the  same 
year  and  is  in  all  essential  respects  similar  to  its  prototype, 
being  a  delegate  body  with  representatives  from  the  various 
affiliated  masters'  associations.  Organized  distinctly  as  a  "war 
measure,"  as  one  of  the  contractors  expressed  it,  the  Con- 
tractors Council  would  probably  not  have  become  permanent, 
as  it  now  threatens  to  be,  had  not  the  struggle  with  the  Build- 
ing Trades  Council  provided  it  with  a  raison  d'etre. 

The  purposes  and  methods  of  the  Contractors  Council  are 
plainly  avowed  in  its  working  rules,  among  which  are  found 
the  following : 

RULE  I.  This  organization  shall  be  known  as  "The  Building 
Contractors  Council,"  and  its  object  shall  be  to  foster,  protect  and 

1  Wright,  loc.  cit.,  p.  19,  estimates  80  per  cent.    One  of  the  best  informed  of  the 
labor  leaders  estimated  8  5  per  cent  of  the  carpenters  and  practically  all  of  the  others. 

2  The    following    associations    are    members    of    the    Contractors    Council : 
Chicago  Masons  and  Builders,  Master  Carpenters  and  Builders,  Master  Carpen- 
ters, Cut  Stone  Contractors,   Master  Plumbers,   Master  Steam  Fitters,   Master 
Painters,  Master  Plasterers,  House  Draining,   Sheet-Metal  Contractors,  Mantel 
and  Tile,  Mosaic  Tile,  Marble  Manufacturers,  and  the  Iron  League. 

8  The  discrepancy  in  numbers  of  trades  represented  in  the  masters'  and 
journeymen's  councils  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  some  cases  two  or 
three  of  the  trades  are  represented  by  a  single  masters'  association.  Four  groups 
of  the  contractors  are  not  organized  at  all.  These  are  the  electricians,  elevator 
constructors,  stone  carvers,  and  tunnel  miners. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE         93 

promote  the  welfare  and  interests  of  its  members,  engaged  in  the 
construction  of  buildings  in  Cook  County,  Illinois. 

RULE  VII,  Section  i.  The  Council  shall  have  full  power  to  take 
any  action  which  may  be  for  the  best  interests  of  any  Association 
allied  with  the  Council ;  and,  should  the  condition  demand,  a  lockout 
may  be  ordered  by  the  Council  to  protect  its  interest. 

Section  2.  No  Association  allied  with  this  Council  shall  hereafter 
enter  into  an  agreement  with  their  journeymen  which  shall  prohibit 
a  sympathetic  lockout. 

RULE  X.  Should  any  differences  arise  between  employer  and 
employee,  whereby  the  interests  of  any  Association  shall  be  impaired, 
such  Association  may  make  a  full  statement  of  the  facts,  through 
the  secretary,  to  the  Council ;  and  he  shall  call  a  meeting  of  the 
Council  to  take  active  measures  to  secure  and  protect  the  interests 
and  rights  of  the  Association  so  aggrieved. 

In  addition  to  the  Contractors  Council,  there  are  a  number 
of  other  organizations  of  employers,  corresponding  to  the  vari- 
ous organizations  of  the  men.  Among  these  are  the  Associa- 
tion of  Material  Manufacturers,  who  furnish  all  the  building 
supplies  to  the  contractors ;  the  Chicago  Architects'  Business 
Association ;  and  the  organization  of  the  real  estate  men. 
While  not  all  of  these  were  direct  employers  of  labor,  they 
sided  with  the  Contractors  Council  in  their  contest  with  the 
Building  Trades  Council. 

The  building  trades  dispute  was  a  struggle  between  these 
two  federated  bodies,  and  in  tracing  the  causes  that  led  up 
to  the  final  outbreak  in  February  >  1900,  we  shall  have  to  con- 
sider in  some  detail  the  relations  between  the  opposing  organ- 
izations. Friction  had  existed  between  the  employers  and  the 
Building  Trades  Council  for  some  years,  and  the  occurrences 
which  immediately  preceded  the  lockout  and  strike  were  not  the 
ultimate  causes.  In  outlining  the  latter  the  blame  may  be  about 
equally  divided  between  the  employers  and  employees.  On  one 
side,  the  unions  claimed  that  the  foundation  of  the  trouble  was 
the  refusal  on  their  part  to  make  exclusive  agreements  with  the 
contractors ;  while  the  contractors  asserted,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  arrogance  and  corruption  of  the  Building  Trades 
Council  had  become  unbearable.  As  there  was  an  element 


94  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  truth  in  both  charges,  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  examine 
them  carefully  and  in  that  way  ascertain  the  causes  of  discontent. 

III.  EXCLUSIVE  AGREEMENTS 

In  the  general  tendency  toward  combination  no  movement 
is  more  significant  than  the  union  effected  between  capital  and 
labor  in  the  Chicago  Building  Trades  by  means  of  the  so-called 
"exclusive  agreements."  The  contractors  in  a  given  trade 
who  were  members  of  the  employers'  association  made  an 
agreement  with  the  members  of  the  union  in  that  trade,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  contractors  were  to  employ  only  members  of 
the  union,  while  the  latter  pledged  themselves  not  to  work 
for  any  outside  firms.  In  this  way  it  was  proposed  to  secure 
a  practical  monopoly  in  the  building  trades,  as  all  the  con- 
tractors and  workmen  would  speedily  be  compelled  to  join  the 
respective  organizations.  Thus  it  was  hoped  to  secure  an 
advance  in  wages  and  an  increase  in  profits.  Such  agreements 
were  made  with  the  carpenters,  bricklayers,  steam  fitters, 
plumbers,  painters,  hod  carriers,  and  some  other  unions. 

The  experience  of  the  carpenters  will  serve  to  illustrate  the 
'  purpose  of  these  agreements.  Their  union  had  made  exclusive 
agreements  with  the  builders'  association  in  1896  and  1897, 
but  in  1898  a  difficulty  arose  over  a  clause  in  which  the 
union  reserved  the  right  to  work,  if  necessary,  for  firms  not 
members  of  the  association.  The  builders  wished  an  absolute 
agreement,  according  to  which  the  union  carpenters  should 
work  only  for  members  of  their  body.  When  the  union  re- 
monstrated that  not  more  than  one  third  of  the  builders  of 
Chicago  were  members  of  the  employers'  association  and  that 
these  could  not  give  employment  to  all  the  men,  they  were 
told  that,  if  they  would  refuse  to  work  for  outside  firms,  work 
would  soon  be  found  for  them.  It  was  thus  very  evident  that 
it  was  the  purpose  of  the  employers  to  use  this  means  to  force 
contractors  into  their  association.  The  carpenters  accordingly 
struck,  and  by  the  end  of  a  week  forced  the  contractors  to  sign 
individual  agreements  without  the  exclusive  clause.  No  further 
negotiations  were  had  between  the  union  and  the  association 
until  the  close  of  the  lockout  of  1900. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE         95 

The  bricklayers  had  profited  probably  more  than  any  other 
union  by  its  exclusive  agreements,  of  which  the  one  understood 
to  have  been  made  with  the  Sewer  Builders'  Association  will 
serve  as  a  type.1  The  Contracting  Sewer  Builders'  Association, 
composed  of  about  thirty  firms,  was  originally  organized  as  a 
surety  company  for  its  members,  but  soon  gained  control  of 
sewer  construction  in  Chicago  and  began  to  advance  prices. 
When  a  piece  of  work  was  advertised  the  associated  con- 
tractors assigned  the  work  to  one  of  their  number  and  then 
put  in  seemingly  independent  bids ;  and  as  the  lowest  bid  was 
placed  much  higher  than  necessary,  the  surplus  profits  thus 
realized  were  divided  among  the  members  of  the  combination.2 
It  was  also  reported  that  the  contractors  had  an  agreement 
with  the  material  men,  from  whom  they  secured  material  at 
lower  prices  than  the  independent  contractor ;  while  additional 
strength  was  given  them  by  the  sewer  inspectors,  who  were 
alleged  to  have  harassed  contractors  not  members  of  the  associ- 
ation by  condemning  bricks,  cement,  and  other  material.  Com- 
petition was  most  effectually  stifled,  however,  by  an  agreement 
made  by  the  Sewer  Builders'  Association  with  the  Bricklayers 
and  Stone  Masons'  Union  on  April  I,  1899,  and  renewed  April 
i,  1900.  The  agreement  was  absolute,  the  bricklayers  binding 
themselves  to  work  for  none  but  members  of  the  Sewer  Build- 
ers' Association,  an  infraction  of  this  rule  being  punishable  by 
a  fine  of  from  $5  to  $25  and  suspension  from  the  union.  In 
return,  an  eight-hour  day  and  a  wage  scale  of  $i  an  hour  were 
provided  for,  only  union  men  were  to  be  employed  by  the  con- 
tractors, and  all  inspectors  were  to  be  members  of  the  Brick- 
layers' Union.  While  this  agreement  served  to  build  up  in  the 
sewer  construction  business  a  strong  combination  among  the 
contractors,  it  also  secured  to  the  workmen's  union  a  monopoly 
of  the  labor  market  within  the  combination.3 

1  Chicago  Tribune,  November  18  and  19,  1900. 

2  Compare  the  methods  of  the  plumbers'  "  trust,"  infra. 

8  Another  striking  example  of  the  successful  exclusive  agreement  was  that 
between  the  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons'  Union  and  the  Chicago  Masons  and 
Builders  Association.  It  continued  some  four  or  five  years,  during  which  time 
the  membership  of  the  builders'  association  increased  from  90  to  500.  —  The 
Bricklayer  and  Mason  (New  York),  April,  1900,  p.  4. 


96  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Other  unions  had  given  up  the  exclusive  agreements  with 
the  employers,  because,  as  one  of  the  men  said,  "  they  got  the 
worst  of  it."  The  one  exception  to  this  rule  was  the  Hod 
Carriers  and  Building  Laborers'  Union.  This  was  composed  of 
the  most  unskilled  labor  in  any  branch  of  the  building  trades, 
and  the  members  were  exposed  more  than  any  other  union  to 
the  pressure  of  outside  competition.  Accordingly,  an  exclusive 
agreement  with  their  employers  was  a  decided  advantage  to 
them,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  give  up  the  arrangement. 
Finally,  however,  the  Building  Trades  Council  passed  a  reso- 
lution that  individual  unions  should  not  be  allowed  to  make 
exclusive  agreements  with  employers'  associations,  and  the 
laborers  were  forced  to  break  this  arrangement.  Up  to  this 
time  the  council  had  permitted  each  trade  to  make  its  own 
agreements.  Now,  however,  it  was  felt  that  the  laborers  must 
conform  to  the  position  of  the  other  unions  and  that  no  more 
exclusive  agreements  should  be  entered  into.  It  was  this 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  the  union 
men  claimed,  that  embittered  the  contractors  against  it  and 
made  them  determined  to  destroy  it,  for  they  thought  that 
they  might  then  be  able  to  force  the  individual  unions  to  help 
them  build  up  a  monopoly  in  the  building  trades.1 

1  The  following  statements  of  prominent  labor  leaders  will  show  what  their 
belief  in  the  matter  was  : 

They  are  not  making  this  fight  on  account  of  grievances  against  the  unions,  but  for 
aggressively  selfish  purposes.  They  aim  to  crush  the  Building  Trades  Council  and  to  estab- 
lish absolute  agreements  with  the  unions  under  which  union  workmen  will  take  employment 
only  from  them.  —  E.  A.  DAVIS,  secretary  Building  Trades  Council. 

The  main  object  of  the  contractors  is  to  secure  absolute  agreements  by  which  union 
workmen  will  work  only  for  members  of  the  contracting  organizations.  They  refuse  to  deal 
with  the  unions  except  through  their  own  council.  —  JOHN  A.  LONG,  president  Board  of 
Business  Agents  and  of  the  Gas  Fitters'  Union. 

The  contractors  had  absolutely  no  complaint  against  the  architectural  iron  workers. 
They  shut  us  out  simply  because  we  belonged  to  the  Building  Trades  Council.  We  refuse 
to  work  solely  for  members  of  their  organization  and  will  work  for  any  employer  who 
abides  by  our  rules.  This  is  the  condition  which  the  contractors  want  to  change  for  their 
own  advantage  and  for  the  disadvantage  of  laborers  and  citizens  generally. — THOMAS 
LYNCH,  president  Architectural  Iron  Workers'  Union. 

The  contractors  are  responsible  for  this  fight.  They  are  trying  to  force  us  to  join  them 
in  crushing  out  contractors  not  members  of  their  council  and  in  gouging  the  public.  —  JOHN 
CLINCH,  president  Plumbers'  Union. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE         97 


IV.  CAUSES  OF  THE  DISPUTE 

That  the  purpose  of  the  Building  Trades  Council  was  to 
control  and  so  far  as  possible  to  monopolize  the  labor  market 
in  the  building  trades  industry  is  obvious.  In  this  it  did  not 
differ  from  the  component  unions.  But  it  is  evident  that  the 
employers  had  encouraged  them  in  this  as  long  as  they  shared 
in  the  results.  The  Building  Trades  Council,  however,  con- 
sidered itself  strong  enough  to  assert  its  power  without  the 
cooperation  of  the  employers'  associations.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  for  the  year  preceding  the  lockout  and  strike  of  February,. 
1900,  the  utmost  friction  had  existed  between  the  two  parties, 
largely  owing  to  the  overbearing  attitude  of  the  labor  leaders. 
They  were  "  glutted  with  success,"  as  one  of  the  laboring  men 
put  it,  and  would  make  no  concessions  to  the  contractors.  By 
petty  and  often  arbitrary  demands  they  interfered  constantly  in 
the  construction  of  buildings,  until  the  employers  were  goaded 
to  the  point  of  rebellion.  "The  time  had  come,"  said  one  of 
the  contractors,  "  when  one  might  as  well  go  out  of  the  business 
as  submit  to  the  demands  of  the  Building  Trades  Council." 
This  feeling  culminated  in  the  lockout  and  consequent  strikes 
of  February  5. 

There  were,  however,  other  causes  which  led  the  contractors 
to  seize  this  particular  time  for  the  struggle  with  the  council, 
among  the  chief  of  which  may  be  mentioned  the  demoralized 
state  of  the  building  industry  in  Chicago  and  the  high  prices 
that  obtained  for  all  building  materials.  At  the  time  of  the 
World's  Fair  in  1893  building  had  been  enormously  stimu- 
lated in  Chicago,  and  the  overproduction  of  that  period  had 
continued  for  the  succeeding  six  years.  Both  contractors  and 
real  estate  men  insisted  that  under  existing  conditions  there 
was  no  money  in  buildings.  The  upward  movement  in  prices, 
too,  had  particularly  affected  iron  and  steel  products,  the 
prices  of  which  had  become  practically  prohibitive.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  there  was  the  uncertainty  and  demoralization  of 
a  presidential  year,  which  always  affects  the  building  trades 


98  TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

disastrously.  As  a  last  straw  there  should  be  taken  into 
account  a  concerted  demand  about  the  beginning  of  the  year 
for  higher  wages,1  on  the  part  of  most  of  the  unions  in  the 
building  trades. 

V.    RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  COUNCILS 

Such  were  the  causes  of  the  dispute.  To  make  the  narra- 
tive of  the  controversy  a  connected  one,  however,  we  must  go 
back  and  review  the  relations  between  the  Building  Contractors 
Council  and  the  Building  Trades  Council  from  the  previous 
summer.  On  August  30,  1899,  the  Building  Contractors  Council 
appointed  a  committee  of  five  and  requested  a  conference  with 
a  similar  committee  from  the  Building  Trades  Council  "  to 
correct  existing  abuses  and  to  arrange  a  plan  whereby  future 
strife  may  be  avoided."  2  The  committees  held  a  meeting  at 
which  the  contractors  stated  the  conditions  under  which  they 
proposed  to  work  in  the  future.  No  action  was  taken  by  the 
Building  Trades  Council;  and,  accordingly,  on  November  17 
the  Building  Contractors  Council  passed  a  series  of  resolutions 
stating  that,  while  there  was  no  disposition  to  question  present 
wages  or  hours  or  the  principle  of  legitimate  unionism,  it 
would  not,  after  January,  1900,  recognize  (i)  any  limitation  as 
to  the  amount  of  work  a  man  shall  perform  during  his  working 
day ;  (2)  any  restriction  of  the  use  of  machinery  ;  (3)  any  restric- 
tion of  the  use  of  any  manufactured  article,  except  prison-made 
articles ;  (4)  the  right  of  any  person  to  interfere  with  the  work- 

1  At  the  end  of  December,  1899,  the  carpenters'  unions  had  demanded  a  new 
wage  scale  of  50  cents  an  hour,  an  increase  of  7!  cents  over  the  existing  rate, 
to  begin  on  April  i.    Early  in  January  the  marble  workers  struck  for  uniform 
payment  of  $3.50  a  day  to  all  cutters  and  setters,  whether  working  in  factories 
or  outside,  an  increase  of  about   10  cents  an  hour;   they  also   demanded  that 
nonunion-cut  blocks  should  not  be  used  in  the  construction  of  buildings.     The 
teamsters  were  granted  an  advance  of  25  cents  a  day;    the  electricians,  of  3! 
cents  an  hour;   the  stonecutters,  of  i6|  cents  an  hour.     The  Hod  Carriers  and 
Building  Laborers'  Union  demanded  an  increase  of  5   cents  an  hour,  to  become 
effective  on  March  i ;  and  the  list  might  be  extended. 

2  Letter  of  executive  committee  of  Building  Contractors  Council  to  Mayor 
Harrison,  February  24,  1900. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE         99 

men  during  working  hours  ;  (5)  the  right  of  the  unions  to  prohibit 
the  employment  of  apprentices  ;  (6)  the  sympathetic  strike. 

These  six  points,  which  were  later  expanded  into  eight, 
were  maintained  as  their  "  cardinal  principles "  by  the  con- 
tractors in  all  their  subsequent  manifestoes.  No  notice  was 
taken  of  these  resolutions  by  the  Building  Trades  Council. 
Before  the  time  came,  however,  when  these  rules  were  to  be 
enforced  another  attempt  at  a  conference  was  made,  under  the 
leadership  of  Martin  B.  Madden.  A  committee  of  seven  was 
appointed  by  each  of  the  councils,  and  after  a  number  of  ami- 
cable meetings  an  agreement  was  reached  on  December  29. 
This  was  known  as  the  "  Madden  agreement "  and  covered 
the  six  points  raised  by  the  contractors  in  their  resolutions  of 
November  i/.1 

1  The  following  is  the  Madden  agreement  of  December  30,  1899,  "for  the 
purpose  of  regulating  and  adjusting  differences  that  may  arise  in  the  future 
between  the  Building  Contractors  Council  and  the  Building  Trades  Council  "  : 

ARTICLES  OF  AGREEMENT 

Section  i.  Each  council  shall  elect  a  board  of  arbitration  of  five  members,  who  shall 
jointly  constitute  a  final  board  of  arbiters. 

Section  2.  The  right  of  a  steward  on  the  job  to  protect  the  journeymen's  interest  is 
recognized.  All  complaints,  disputes,  or  violations  of  joint  agreements  by  employer  or 
employee  to  be  adjusted  by  the  contractor  or  his  agent  and  the  steward  or  business  agent  of 
the  Building  Trades  Council  or  affiliated  unions,  who  shall  be  allowed  to  visit  all  jobs  during 
working  hours  to  interview  the  steward  or  workmen,  but  will  not  in  any  way  interfere  with 
their  work.  In  case  of  failure  to  adjust  any  complaint,  dispute,  or  violation  of  agreements, 
the  subject-matter  shall  at  once  be  referred  to  the  standing  arbitration  committee  of  five  from 
the  employers  and  five  from  the  employees  representing  the  trade  interested,  who  shall 
immediately  decide  the  matter  at  issue.  [In]  Any  case  at  issue  that  cannot  be  adjusted  by 
the  trade  directly  interested,  appeal  shall  immediately  be  taken  to  the  final  board  of  arbitra- 
tion, as  provided  in  section  i,  to  adjust  all  matters  referred  to  it  by  any  of  the  associations 
affiliated  or  may  become  affiliated  [sic]  with  party  to  this  agreement,  and  their  decision  shall 
be  final. 

No  strike  or  lockout  shall  be  called  or  authorized  by  either  party  to  this  agreement  or 
by  any  member  or  association  affiliated  or  by  their  business  agents  by  reason  of  any  dispute 
arising  between  the  unions  represented  in  either  association.  Work  shall  continue  uninter- 
rupted while  any  case  is  pending  before  the  final  board  of  arbitration. 

Section  3.  No  limitation  as  to  the  amount  of  work  a  man  shall  perform  during  his 
working  day. 

Section  4.  Question  of  machinery  referred  to  the  different  organizations  of  employers 
and  employees.  In  the  event  of  failure  to  agree  either  party  shall  have  the  right  of  appeal 
to  the  final  board  of  arbitration. 

Section  5.  Each  established  employer  in  each  respective  trade  shall  be  allowed  to  have  at 
least  one  apprentice,  whose  time  of  apprenticeship  expires  before  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years. 


100        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

It  was  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  committee  from  the 
Contractors  Council  and  was  ratified  by  the  council  the  follow- 
ing day.  Of  the  committee  from  the  Trades  Council  only 
four  members  signed  it,  and  when  it  was  referred  by  them 
to  the  council  no  further  action  was  taken  on  it.  On  Janu- 
ary 17  the  Building  Contractors  Council  notified  the  secretary 
of  the  Building  Trades  Council  that  they  expected  a  definite 
answer  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Trades  Council  not  later 
than  January  27.  When  nothing  was  heard  by  that  time,  the 
contractors  prepared  a  new  set  of  rules  to  govern  all  work 
and  fixed  a  scale  of  wages  to  go  into  effect  February  5.  The 
attempt  to  enforce  these  rules  was  the  immediate  cause  of 
the  dispute  and  resulted  soon  in  tying  up  the  whole  building 
industry  of  Chicago. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Building  Trades  Council  made  a 
great  mistake  in  ignoring  the  Madden  agreement  as  they  did, 
especially  after  it  had  been  drawn  up  and  adopted  by  their 
own  committee.  E.  A.  Davis,  secretary  of  the  council,  later1 
attempted  to  explain  their  failure  to  ratify  the  agreement  by 
saying  that  the  matter  had  been  referred  to  the  different  unions 
for  a  referendum  vote  and  that  before  such  a  vote  could  be 
taken  the  contractors  issued  their  ultimatum  in  the  form  of  a 
new  set  of  rules.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  matter  had  not  been 

Section  6.  No  restriction  on  the  use  of  building  material  other  than  cut  and  sawed  stone, 
granite,  exterior  marble  work,  common  brick,  wood  mill  work  (except  mantels  and  movable 
furniture),  and  prison-made  material. 

Section  7.   It  remains  optional  with  contractor  as  to  number  of  men  he  shall  employ. 

Section  8.  No  rules  other  than  those  of  this  agreement  to  be  made  by  either  side,  unless 
authorized  by  the  final  board  of  arbitration. 

Section  9.    Rules  to  be  drawn  up  by  both  sides  at  once. 

Section  10.  Members  of  the  Building  Contractors  Council  to  receive  as  favorable  treat- 
ment from  the  Building  Trades  Council  as  other  contractors. 

Section  n.  It  is  agreed  that  as  long  as  this  contract  is  faithfully  kept  by  the  Building 
Trades  Council  and  its  affiliated  unions  the  members  of  the  associations  affiliated  with  the 
Building  Contractors  Council  in  the  erection  of  buildings  will  employ  at  the  buildings  in 
Cook  County  none  but  the  workmen  carrying  Building  Trades  Council  working  cards  in  good 
standing  in  their  respective  callings,  except  where  it  may  be  otherwise  agreed  by  the  joint 
arbitration  committee  of  the  trade  involved. 

The  text  of  this  agreement  is  printed  in  Carpentry  and  Building  (New  York), 
February,  1900,  p.  56.  The  above  was  copied  from  the  original  document, 
verbatim  et  literatim. 

1  In  an  interview  in  the  Chicago  Times-Herald,  March  9. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        101 

so  referred ;  and  the  writer  has  been  assured  by  several  promi- 
nent labor  men  that  there  was  no  intention  on  the  part  of  the 
unions  of  ratifying  the  agreement.  This  treatment  undoubt- 
edly angered  the  contractors  and  rendered  them  both  firm  and 
united  in  their  subsequent  action. 

The  notice  of  January  29,  issued  by  the  Contractors  Council, 
which  was  to  go  into  effect  on  February  5,  read  as  follows : 

The  unions  affiliated  with  the  Building  Trades  Council  having  abso- 
lutely ignored  the  joint  arbitration  agreement  and  failed  to  ratify 
the  same,  we  hereby  make  the  following  rules  .  .  .  and  you  will 
govern  yourselves  accordingly:  no  limitation  as  to  the  amount  of 
work  a  man  shall  perform  in  a  day ;  no  restriction  as  to  the  use  of 
machinery ;  no  restriction  as  to  union  or  nonunion-made  material ; 
the  foreman  shall  be  the  agent  of  the  contractor ;  the  right  to  employ 
and  discharge  whomever  he  may  choose  is  reserved  to  the  employer ; 
eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  work ;  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages 
in  all  trades ;  time  and  one  half  will  be  allowed  for  all  overtime ; 
double  time  for  Sundays  and  holidays.1 

The  position  taken  by  the  Contractors  Council  was  indorsed 
the  day  following  by  the  general  contractors  of  Chicago,  in- 
cluding many  who  were  not  members  of  the  council.  To  give 
effect  to  their  action  the  contractors  notified  members  of  the 
Plumbers',  the  Hod  Carriers  and  Building  Laborers',  and  the 
Hoisting  Engineers'  unions  that  the  rules  of  the  Building 
Contractors  Council  would  be  enforced  after  February  5,  and 
that  the  unions'  rules  which  were  objected  to  would  be 
disregarded.  The  master  plumbers  led  the  movement  and 
notified  their  employees  that  they  must  sign  individual  con- 
tracts. The  men,  with  a  few  exceptions,  refusing  to  do  this, 
they  were  locked  out. 

The  attitude  of  the  Building  Trades  Council  was  at  first 
very  pacific.  President  Edward  Carroll  stated  on  February  4 
that  "  the  council  has  not  ordered  a  strike  and  does  not 

1  It  will  be  seen  that  the  position  of  the  contractors,  as  stated  here,  was  not  as 
liberal  as  that  of  the  Madden  agreement.  After  the  refusal  of  the  unions  to 
ratify  that  agreement  they  would  at  no  time  consent  to  as  great  concessions. 


102         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

intend  to  do  so.  The  affiliated  unions  know  their  duty  as 
union  men  and  are  expected  to  act  accordingly."  From 
the  very  beginning  of  the  dispute  the  unions  composing  the 
Building  Trades  Council  insisted  that  the  contractors  were 
wholly  to  blame  for  the  trouble,  since  by  instituting  new 
rules  they  had  violated  agreements  which  would  not  have 
expired  for  a  month  or  so.1  On  February  6,  however,  the 
Hod  Carriers  and  Building  Laborers'  Union,  the  first  organi- 
zation to  take  official  action,  instructed  its  representatives  to 
call  strikes  on  every  building  in  the  city  where  men  were 
working  under  the  new  rules.  The  movement  did  not  take 
on  large  proportions  until  Saturday,  February  10,  when  the 
carpenters  were  involved  in  the  struggle.  For  several  years 
they  had  been  working  only  half  of  Saturday,  but  under  the 
new  rules  of  the  Building  Contractors  Council,  which  were 
indorsed  by  the  carpenter  contractors,  they  would  be  com- 
pelled to  work  all  of  Saturday.  Instructions  were  therefore 
given  by  the  district  council  of  the  carpenters'  union  that  no 
member  of  the  organization  would  be  permitted  to  violate  the 
old  rule.  Accordingly,  at  noon  on  Saturday,  February  10, 
building  operations  in  the  city  were  practically  suspended, 
when  the  carpenters  refused  to  work  after  the  noon  hour. 
The  number  of  men  rendered  idle  was  variously  estimated 
at  that  time  from  3000,  according  to  the  labor  men,  to  7000, 
according  to  the  contractors.  This  number  continued  to  grow 
steadily  during  the  next  few  weeks,  as  the  workmen  were 
called  out  on  sympathetic  strikes  by  the  affiliated  unions  or 
were  locked  out  by  the  contractors,  until  about  50,000  men 
were  affected. 

Throughout  the  entire  time  of  the  dispute  there  seemed  to 
be  doubt  as  to  whether  it  should  be  called  a  "  strike "  or  a 
"lockout."  The  choice  of  a  name  was  usually  decided  by  the 
desire  to  favor  one  side  or  the  other,  the  contractors  claiming  that 
the  men  had  struck,  while  the  unions  asserted  that  there  was 
no  strike,  but  that  they  had  been  locked  out.  The  responsibility 

1  Agreements  were  in  force  between  the  employers  and  the  individual  unions, 
some  expiring  March  i,  others  May  i,  and  others  not  till  1901. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        103 

is  not,  however,  to  be  fixed  by  the  choice  of  a  name.1  In 
some  cases  the  contractors  took  the  initiative,  and  in  others 
the  unions.  Yet  it  is  but  fair  to  insist  that  the  posting  of  the 
new  rules  by  the  contractors  was  in  most  cases  tantamount 
to  a  lockout,  as  they  knew  that  the  men  would  be  compelled 
to  cease  work  by  the  rules  of  their  unions ;  and  even  in  a  case 
where  the  contractors'  rules  did  not  conflict  with  the  rules  or 
agreements  of  the  union,  the  men  could  not  remain  at  work 
if  nonunion  men  were  put  on  the  building  or  if,  as  was  gen- 
erally done,  a  sympathetic  strike  was  ordered  in  accordance 
with  the  constitution  of  the  Building  Trades  Council. 

VI.  POSITION  OF  THE  MATERIAL  MEN 

The  mills  and  factories  furnishing  building  materials  were 
soon  involved  in  the  building  trades  dispute,  and  in  this  case 
the  initiative  seems  to  have  been  taken  by  the  unions  in  call- 
ing sympathetic  strikes  among  the  wood  workers  and  others  as 
early  as  February  19.2  The  manufacturers  and  mill  owners  were 
really  in  a  difficult  position.  On  the  one  hand,  they  had  made 
agreements  with  the  building  contractors,  according  to  which 
the  contractors  were  to  buy  their  materials  only  of  firms  in  the 
combination,  and  in  return  were  to  receive  lower  prices.  Thus 
the  brick  manufacturers  in  the  "brick  combine"  and  the 
Masons  and  Builders  Association  are  reported  to  have  had  an 
agreement,  which  was  to  continue  to  April  i,  by  which  mem- 
bers of  the  latter  were  able  to  buy  bricks  at  one  dollar  a 
thousand  less  than  was  charged  to  outsiders,  lime  fifteen  cents 
a  barrel  cheaper,  and  vent  linings,  copings,  and  so  forth,  at  a  pro- 
portionate rate.  In  addition  to  this  the  association  was  to  be 

1  It  is  almost  impossible  at  times  to  distinguish  in  practice  between  a  lockout 
and  a  strike,  and  the  distinction  was  given  up  in  the  English  labor  reports  as  long 
ago  as  1894,  the  generic  name  "  dispute  "  being  used  for  all  forced  cessations  of 
work.    In  the  American  reports  the  attempt  is  still  made  to  distinguish  the  two 
kinds  of  dispute. 

2  On  February  26  the  Material  Trades  Council  called  a  strike  in  two  brickyards 
which  furnished  material  to  buildings  where  nonunion  labor  was  employed. — 
Chicago  Record,  February  27. 


104         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

paid  a  bonus  of  one  dollar  a  thousand  for  all  bricks  sold  to  build- 
ers who  were  not  members  of  the  association.1  A  part  of  this 
sum  was  currently  reported  to  have  been  paid  into  the  treasury 
of  the  contractors'  council.  On  the  other  hand,  the  material 
men  had  entered  into  agreements  with  the  labor  unions  not  to 
furnish  material  for  jobs  where  nonunion  labor  was  employed. 
This  worked  very  well  until  the  February  lockout  and  strike, 
when  the  contractors  began  to  employ  nonunion  labor.  The 
material  men  were  then  placed  in  a  predicament.  If  they 
refused  to  furnish  the  contractors  material,  the  former  could 
go  outside  the  city  to  make  their  purchases ;  if  they  furnished 
the  material,  they  would  violate  their  agreements  with  the 
unions  and  a  strike  would  probably  result.2 

On  March  i  the  mill  owners  and  building  supply  men  held  a 
meeting  and  took  a  definite  position,  throwing  in  their  lot  with 
the  Building  Contractors  Council.  They  decided  not  to  furnish 
supplies  to  contractors  who  were  not  members  of  this  body. 
If  this  plan  were  carried  out,  no  contractor  could  break  the  tie-up 
in  the  building  industry  by  hiring  members  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council  under  the  old  rules,  until  the  united  con- 
tractors permitted  it.  The  contractors  could  then  gradually 
resume  building  with  nonunion  labor  and  have  material  sup- 
plied only  to  jobs  designated  by  them.  This  plan  seems  to 
have  been  agreed  to  by  the  mill  owners  and  a  majority  of  the 
material  men,  namely,  those  dealing  in  rubblestone,  crushed 
stone,  lime,  cement,  copings,  and  pressed  brick.  The  brick 
manufacturers,  however,  refused  thus  to  restrict  their  sales  and 
declared  in  favor  of  an  open  market,  in  which  they  might  sell  to 
any  one  who  wished  to  buy.  A  few  days  later  the  other  manu- 
facturers of  building  material  took  a  new  stand  and  decided 
that  after  filling  existing  contracts  they  would  not  undertake 

1  Mr.  Falkenau,  chairman  of  the  press  committee  of  the  contractors'  council, 
while  denying  that  there  was  any  discrimination,  admitted  a  difference  in  prices. 
This  he  explained  by  saying  that  it  was  due  to  the  discount  the  large  firms  received 
for  wholesale  orders  and  for  cash  payment. — Chicago  Times-Herald,  May  14. 

2  As  early  as  February  9  the  Brickmakers'  Union  threatened  to  call  strikes  in 
all  brickyards  unless  the  agreements  with  them  were  maintained  by  which  brick 
could  be  sold  only  to  employers  of  union  labor.  —  Chicago  Record,  February  10. 


\ 

THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        105 

any  new  contracts  until  the  difficulties  in  the  building  trades 
were  settled,  believing  that  the  dispute  could  be  settled  most 
quickly  if  material  should  be  refused  to  every  one. 

This  position  was  consistently  maintained  by  most  of  the 
material  men,  and  their  plants  were  either  closed  entirely  or 
kept  running  to  supply  only  the  immediate  demands  of  the 
trade.1  The  union  men  claimed,  however,  that  there  was  a 
secret  agreement  between  the  contractors  and  the  material 
men,  according  to  which  supplies  were  refused  only  to  employ- 
ers of  union  labor,  and  that  the  announced  policy  was  only  a 
cover  for  discriminations  against  contractors  outside  of  the 
council.  Charges  against  the  Masons  and  Builders  Association 
and  some  ten  or  twelve  firms,  mostly  plumbers,  were  taken 
before  the  May  grand  jury,  where  the  material  men  were 
accused  of  boycotting  and  conspiracy.  The  charges  could  not 
be  substantiated,  however,  and  were  dismissed  for  lack  of  evi- 
dence. That  some  such  agreement  was  actually  made  seems 
not  open  to  doubt.  One  of  the  leading  contractors,  a  member 
of  the  Contractors  Council,  admitted  to  the  writer  that  such  a 
combination  existed  among  the  plumbers,  and  the  evidence 
seemed  to  show  that  similar  arrangements  had  been  made  by 
other  material  men. 

As  the  plumbers'  " trust"  has  come  in  for  a  large  share  of 
public  attention,  it  will  be  instructive  to  examine  its  methods. 
The  following  is  probably  a  fairly  accurate  account.2  The 
association  of  master  plumbers,  who  control  from  65  to  70 
per  cent  of  the  plumbing  work  of  Chicago,  employed  a  system 
that  raised  the  price  of  all  the  work  they  secured.  If  eight  or 
ten  of  them  were  invited  to  bid  on  a  piece  of  work,  they  would 
do  so  ;  but  instead  of  submitting  their  bids  at  once  to  the  con- 
tractor, they  would  meet  and  in  the  presence  of  one  another 
would  open  their  bids.  Then  the  contract  would  be  awarded  to 
the  lowest  bidder,  who  would  add  to  his  bid  two  per  cent  of  its 

1  Between  10,000  and  20,000  men  were  thrown  out  of  employment  in  the  build- 
ing material  trades  during  the  dispute. 

2  Testimony  of  J.  S.  Kelly,  president  of  the  United  Association  of  Journeymen 
Plumbers  and  Gas  Fitters,  before  the  Industrial  Commission,  October  n,  1900. 


106         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

amount  for  each  of  the  other  bidders.  Each  of  the  unsuccess- 
ful bidders  would  then  increase  his  bid  an  equal  amount,  and 
the  amended  bids  would  be  submitted  to  the  contractor.  It  is 
said  that  several  firms  were  dismissed  from  the  Master  Plumbers 
Association  because  of  their  refusal  to  pay  over  the  two  per  cent 
to  the  unsuccessful  bidders,  and  that  in  each  case  the  Journey- 
men Plumbers'  Union,  which  had  an  agreement  with  the  master 
plumbers,  was  called  on  to  forbid  its  men  from  working  for 
the  dismissed  member  of  the  masters'  association. 

VII.  CONTENTIONS  OF  THE  Two  COUNCILS 

To  ascertain  exactly  what  the  truth  is  in  a  complicated 
quarrel  where  every  issue  is  controverted  and  every  statement 
is  a  matter  of  dispute  is  not  easy.  But  we  can  probably  not 
do  better  than  to  examine  at  this  point  the  claims  of  the  two 
contending  parties  as  set  forth  in  their  published  statements. 
Both  the  contractors  and  the  labor  unions  evidently  thought  it 
necessary  to  justify  their  position  before  the  public,  and  circu- 
lars were  early  drawn  up  by  both  sides  explaining  the  situation. 
The  Building  Trades  Council  was  first  in  the  field  with  a  state- 
ment *  of  its  position.  The  most  important  section  of  the  paper 
was  the  following : 

We  are  willing  to  furnish  our  services  to  whomsoever  needs  them 
in  the  erection  and  construction  of  buildings,  irrespective  of  whether 
they  are  members  of  contractors'  associations  or  not,  the  only  stipu- 
lation we  ask  being  that  union  conditions  shall  prevail  on  the  building. 

There  followed  an  indictment  of  the  Building  Contractors 
Council  on  the  ground  that  though  it  claimed  to  be  working  for 
the  elimination  of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  it  fined  any  of  its 
members  for  making  individual  agreements  with  a  trades  union. 
Finally,  as  regards  arbitration,  the  labor  men  insisted  that  they 
had  never  refused  to  arbitrate,  that  most  of  the  agreements 
they  had  made  with  the  contractors  provided  for  arbitration, 
and  that  they  intended  to  live  up  to  these  agreements. 

1  See  Chicago  papers  of  February  8. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        107 

In  conclusion  [said  the  Trades  Council]  we  mean  to  carry  out  the 
agreements  entered  into  by  our  unions  in  good  faith ;  and,  if  work  is 
stopped  and  the  building  industry  paralyzed,  it  will  be  no  fault  of 
ours.  The  blame  rests  entirely  on  the  contractors. 

An  answer  to  this  statement  was  soon  prepared  by  the 
Building  Contractors  Council  and  given  to  the  public.1  The 
contractors  seized  upon  the  paragraph  in  which  "union  condi- 
tions "  were  demanded  and  proceeded  to  enumerate  and  criti- 
cise seven  or  eight  demands  which  were  insisted  on  by  some  of 
the  unions  and  which  they  were  unwilling  to  grant.  It  will  be 
profitable  to  consider  these  in  detail,  for  the  contractors  based 
their  case  largely  on  the  charges  which  they  made  in  this  con- 
nection, and  in  these  conditions  is  to  be  found,  if  at  all,  the 
justification  for  the  contractors'  position. 

i.  The  first  "union  condition"  to  which  the  contractors 
objected  was  "  the  limitation  of  the  work  a  man  is  permitted  to 
perform  in  a  day."  Such  a  restriction  existed  in  the  rules  of 
the  lathers,  gas  fitters,  steam  fitters,  plasterers,  and  plumbers. 
The  lathers  limited  a  day's  work  to  twenty-five  bundles  of  lath, 
for  which  they  received  $3  ;  they  had  formerly  done  thirty-five 
bundles  for  a  daily  wage  of  $i.75.2  Plasterers  were  limited  to 
thirty  square  yards  a  day ;  the  steam  fitters  were  permitted 
to  lay  only  ninety  feet  of  steam  pipe  per  day  ;  but  the  plumbers 
had  the  most  objectionable  rules  and  restricted  materially  the 
amount  of  work  that  could  be  done  in  a  day.3  These  and  similar 

1  See  Chicago  papers  of  February  u. 

2  One  of  the  labor  men  stated  to  the  writer  that  they  often  finished  by  four 
o'clock  and  then  "  rushed  the  can  "  for  an  hour. 

3  The  rules  of  the  plumbers  limiting  the  amount  of  work  were  as  follows  : 

RULE  I.  When  working  on  lead  work,  eight  wiped  joints  shall  be  considered  a 
day's  work. 

RULE  II.  When  working  on  iron  pipe,  the  measuring,  cutting,  threading  and 
placing  in  position  of  fifteen  threads  of  one  inch  or  under  shall  be  considered  a 
day's  work. 

RULE  IV.  When  finishing  on  flats  or  apartments,  hotel  or  office  buildings,  one 
fixture  shall  be  considered  an  average  day's  work,  except  laundry  tubs,  when  each 
apartment  shall  constitute  a  fixture. 

RULE  XI.  Any  member  violating  any  of  these  rules  shall  be  fined  one  day's 
pay  for  the  first  offence,  two  days'  pay  for  the  second  offence,  and  if  he  persist  in 
the  violation  the  association  shall  deal  with  him  as  it  sees  fit. 


108         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

rules l  of  the  unions  were  defended  by  them  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  necessary  to  secure  careful  work  and  to  prevent  the 
" rusher"  from  setting  the  pace  for  a  fair  day's  work.  There 
seems  to  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  all  legitimate  limitations 
had  been  exceeded,  and  that  in  all  cases  the  so-called  day's  work 
could  have  been  performed  by  the  average  workman  in  a  few 
hours.  In  justice  to  the  unions,  it  may  be  said  that  most  of. 
them  admitted  the  unfairness  of  these  restrictions.  Thus,  John 
Clinch,  president  of  the  Plumbers'  Union,  conceded  in  an  inter- 
view that  "  the  rules  were  made  hastily,  and  they  may  be  defect- 
ive." It  is  worthy  of  note,  too,  that  the  Journeyman  Plumbers' 
Union  a  little  later2  adopted  a  new  form  of  agreement,  leaving 
out  the  clause  that  fixed  the  maximum  amount  of  work  and 
providing  for  a  permanent  board  of  arbitration. 

2.  "Another  'union  condition'  is  the  delay  caused  by  the 
quarrels  between  the  unions  as  to  which  shall  perform  a  specific 
piece  of  work."    Instances  were  cited  where  work  had  been 
delayed  for  weeks,  while  the  unions  decided  which  should  per- 
form certain  tasks.    Such  disputes  occurred  between  the  free- 
stone cutters  and  the  granite  cutters,  between  the  ornamental 
iron   workers   and  the    structural  iron  workers,    between   the 
steam  fitters  and  the  plumbers,  and  in  other  cases,  in  some  of 
which  the  work  was  done  twice  and  twice  paid  for,  and  in  all 
of  which  it  was  delayed.    On  this  count  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  contractors  had  a  just  grievance.    In  many  instances  the 
Building  Trades   Council   had  not   paid   sufficient    respect  to 
their  interests  in  deciding  these  disputes. 

3.  "The  union  shall  dictate  to  the  contractor  how  many 
men  he  shall  employ  on  a  specified  building,  and  that  he  shall 
not  discharge  a  man  to  whom  they  wish  to  give  work,  even  if 
he  is  a  lazy  and  incompetent  workman."3    There  are  evidently 
two  counts  under  this  charge.    As  to  the  second,  the  right  of 

1  One  of  the  rules  of  the  Carpenters'  Union  provides  that  "  any  member  guilty 
of  excessive  work  or  rushing  on  any  job  shall  be  reported  and  shall  be  subject  to 
a  fine  of  $5."  2  May  2. 

3  These  charges  are  cleverly,  if  ungrammatically,  worded,  and  while  generally 
true  are  not  all  the  truth.  They  must,  therefore,  be  carefully  read. 


\ 

THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        109 

the  contractor  to  hire  and  discharge  his  own  laborers  was  never 
interfered  with  by  the  Building  Trades  Council,  except  where 
the  contractor  failed  to  live  up  to  his  written  agreement  with 
the  union  or  where  he  had  employed  nonunion  men  or  was  not 
paying  union  wages.  Certainly  the  contractors  could  not  fairly 
complain  on  this  score  if  after  having  made  exclusive  agreements 
with  the  unions  to  employ  only  union  men  the  latter  should 
attempt  to  enforce  this  principle  without  such  agreements.  But 
as  to  the  first  count,  that  the  union  dictated  how  many  men  in 
a  given  trade  should  be  on  a  building,  the  contractor  had  just 
grounds  for  complaint.  Such  a  rule  was  made,  for  instance,  by 
the  lathers,  according  to  which  six  lathers  must  be  employed  on 
every  job.  On  a  small  building  there  was  caused  by  this  an  un- 
necessary cost  for  scaffolding,  carting,  and  so  forth,  if  all  the  men 
were  to  be  kept  busy ;  and  it  was  often  the  case  that  in  interior 
work,  as  on  stairs,  it  was  physically  impossible  for  six  men  to 
work  at  the  same  time.  Such  rules  had  the  same  purpose  as. 
those  limiting  the  day's  work,  but  are  even  less  defensible. 

4.  "  A  fourth  of  these  « union  conditions '  is  that  the  union 
shall  dictate  to  the  investor  where  he  shall  buy  his  building 
materials  and  by  whom  they  shall  be  finished."  In  answer  to  this 
charge  the  officers  of  the  unions  insisted  that  they  had  always 
been  willing  to  work  with  union-made  material  and  had  objected 
only  to  the  introduction  of  prison-made  materials  or  those  pro- 
duced under  nonunion  conditions.  This,  however,  was  not  the 
whole  truth,  for  they  had  objected  to  using  material  made  by  non- 
union men,  even  if  under  union  conditions  in  other  respects, 
and  had  often  insisted  that  work  should  not  be  done  outside  of 
Chicago.  Thus,  marble  or  granite  to  be  used  on  buildings  must 
be  cut  and  dressed,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  city  by  members 
of  the  local  union.  Whether  these  demands  were  right  or 
wrong,  the  contractors  fairly  exposed  themselves  to  the  charge 
of  inconsistency  in  complaining  of  the  action  of  the  unions  on 
this  score.  As  a  student  of  the  matter  has  said : 

While  vigorously,  and  in  part  very  justly,  protesting  against  the 
interference  of  organized  labor  with  the  liberty  of  its  contractors  to 
purchase  material  from  whom  they  pleased,  they  countenanced  and 


HO         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

abetted,  if  they  did  not  organize,  a  boycott  of  building  material  pro- 
ducers against  the  employers  of  union  labor  allied  with  the  Building 
Trades  Council.1 

The  unions  had  been  educated  up  to  this  position  both  by  the 
combination  between  contractors  and  material  men  and  by  the 
system  of  exclusive  agreements  into  which  they  had  entered 
with  the  contractors  and  the  manufacturers.2  The  union  men 
might  justly  have  replied  to  this  charge,  Tu  quoque.  There 
is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  attempts  to  enforce  such  rules 
and  thereby  to  give  assistance  to  their  comrades  in  the  mate- 
rial trades  were  the  cause  of  a  great  many  strikes  and  of  a  great 
deal  of  annoyance  and  loss.  Probably  one  half  of  all  the  strikes 
that  occurred  in  the  building  industry  in  Chicago  during  the 
year  1899  were  caused  by  the  use  of  nonunion-made  material.3 
5.  "  It  is  a  'union  condition '  that  industry  is  to  be  blocked 
by  the  prohibition  of  machinery,  as  in  the  case  of  the  stone- 
cutters, who  have  shut  down  all  the  planers  in  Chicago ;  and 
the  carpenters,  who  will  not  allow  a  patent  miter  box  to  be 
used."4  While  not  defending  this  position  in  general,  the  union 
men  retorted  that  the  contractors  themselves  had  been  the  first 
to  advocate  the  prohibition  of  machinery,  and  pointed  also  to 
the  case  of  the  stone  cutters.  Of  the  eighty  stone  cutting 
firms  in  Chicago  only  twenty  had  machinery ;  accordingly, 
when  the  other  firms  made  their  agreements  with  the  union 
they  insisted  on  an  antimachinery  clause.  Now,  however, 
claimed  the  union  men,  they  wished  to  mislead  the  public  by 

1  Professor  Graham  Taylor,  "  Between  the  Lines  in  Chicago's  Industrial  Civil 
War,"  in  The  Commons,  April  30,  1900. 

2  A  striking  instance  of  the  willingness  of  the  contractors  to  do  on  occasion 
what  they  condemned  in  the  unions  occurred  in  connection  with  the  Federal  Post 
Office  Building.    The  specifications  of  this  building  called  for  granite,  but  the 
Chicago  contractors  wished  to  have  this  changed  to  native  stone.    They  therefore 
sent  a  delegation  of  labor  men  to  Washington  to  lobby  for  this  purpose.     With 
the  labor  men  they  used  the  argument  that  such  a  change  in  the  material  would 
provide  them  with  additional  work.     Secretary  Gage  did  not  permit  the  change  to 
be  made. 

3  Statement  made  to  the  writer  by  one  of  the  labor  leaders. 

4 The  trade  rule  of  the  Carpenters'  Union  on  this  point  is  as  follows:  "Any 
member  who  furnishes  a  patent  miter  box  shall  be  fined  $5." 


X 

THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        1 1 1 

charging  this  against  the  union,  whereas  they  were  themselves 
originally  responsible  for  such  rules.  But  even  in  these  cases 
the  labor  men  in  general  opposed  such  restrictions  and  stated 
their  willingness  to  submit  them  to  arbitration. 

6.  "  It  is  a  *  union  condition'  that  in  many  cases  the  growing 
youth  is  not  permitted  to  learn  a  trade."    The  limitation  of 
apprentices  is  a  position  which  the  skilled  trades  unionists  have 
long  held,  but  which  is  gradually  being  given  up  as  indefen- 
sible.1   It  is  defended,  however,  on  the  ground  that  the  unre- 
stricted employment  of  apprentices  amounts  in  many  cases  to 
the  employment  of  underpaid  child  labor.    Most  of  the  agree- 
ments existing  in  the  skilled  trades  recognize  the  principle  by 
limiting  in  some  way  the  number  of  apprentices,  and  in  general 
it  may  be  said  that  the  contractors  were  not  vitally  concerned 
in. the  abrogation  of  this  rule  where  it  existed.2    On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  unions  had  frequently  abused 
this  condition  in  their  endeavors  to  secure  as  complete  a  monop- 
oly of  the  labor  market  as  possible.3 

7.  "  The  unparalleled  power  of  the  walking  delegate,  armed 
with  the  sympathetic  strike,  constitutes  another  'union  condi- 
tion.'" In  answer  to  this  charge  of  the  contractors,  E.  A.  Davis, 
secretary  of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  said  :* 

They  have  no  right  to  attack  the  walking  delegate,  as  he  is  merely 
the  servant  of  his  organization.  Each  such  labor  representative  has 
been  elected  by  a  majority  vote  of  his  union.  To  oppose  him  is  to 
oppose  the  opinions  and  desires  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
union.  He  does  work  which  the  members  cannot  possibly  do  for 
themselves,  and  in  nearly  every  case  he  has  the  full  support  of  his 
union  in  his  actions,  though  of  course  now  and  then  he  makes 
mistakes. 

1See  article  by  Miss  Jane  Addams :  "Trades  Unions  and  Public  Duty,"  in 
American  Journal  of  Sociology,  July,  1899,  pp.  448  ff. 

2  In  their  statement  of  principles  of  April  30  and  June  12  they  explained  their 
demand  on  this  point  as  follows :  "  This  means  that  in  each  trade  a  fair  agree- 
ment as  to  the  number  of  apprentices  shall  be  entered  into."  See  also  Section  5 
of  the  Madden  agreement. 

8  See  article  by  George  C.  Sikes :  "  The  Apprentice  System  in  the  Building 
Trades,"  in  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  June,  1894. 

4  In  an  interview  in  the  Chicago  Times-Herald,  March  9. 


1 1 2         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

For  a  considerable  period  previous  to  the  lockout  and  strike  of 
February  5  the  attitude  of  th®  unions  toward  the  contractors 
had  been  extremely  dictatorial  and  exasperating,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out.  The  walking  delegates  had  used  their  power 
mercilessly  to  bring  the  employers  to  terms,  and  had  resorted 
to  the  strike,  actual  or  threatened,  on  the  slightest  provocation. 
Yet  the  real  fight  of  the  contractors  was  not  so  much  against 
the  walking  delegate  per  se  as  against  the  sympathetic  strike 
with  which  the  Building  Trades  Council  enforced  its  demands. 
Although  there  has  been  a  steady  decline  in  the  number  of 
sympathetic  strikes  in  the  country  at  large  within  the  last 
decade,  the  resort  to  this  measure  had  been  frequent  in  the 
building  trades  in  Chicago.  The  unions  having  delegated  the 
power  to  call  such  strikes  to  the  Building  Trades  Council, 
there  was  no  certainty  that  an  agreement  made  with  an  indi- 
vidual union,  though  for  a  specific  period,  would  not  be  broken 
at  any  time.1  In  order  to  eliminate  the  sympathetic  strike,  the 
contractors  therefore  demanded  the  abolition  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council. 

As  the  smoke  of  charges  and  countercharges  cleared  away, 
it  became  more  and  more  evident  that  the  real  point  at  issue 
was  not  any  disagreement  as  to  wages  or  hours,  but  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Building  Trades  Council  itself.  With  the  utmost 
frankness  the  contractors,  through  the  published  statements  of 
their  press  committee 2  or  the  statements  of  the  chairman  of 
that  committee,  Victor  Falkenau,  repeatedly  admitted  that  this 
was  their  object.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  dispute  they 
defined  their  position  as  follows  : 

Let  it  not  be  understood  that  the  Contractors  Council  in  the 
present  struggle  with  the  men  who  dominate  the  Building  Trades 
Council  have  any  war  with  union  labor,  now  or  at  any  later  time. 
Above  all  things,  they  wish  to  make  very  clear  their  position  on  that 
point.  The  men  in  the  Contractors  Council  believe  in  labor  unions. 

1  Thus    the   agreement   of   the    Carpenters'    Executive    Council   of   Chicago, 
Article  10,  provide:   "A  sympathetic  strike  when  ordered  to  protect  the  union 
principles  herein  laid  down  shall  not  be  a  violation  of  this  agreement." 

2  This  press  committee  was  finally  dispensed  with,  July  27,  on  the  ground  that 
it  was  too  talkative. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        113 

Both  for  the  benefit  of  the  mechanic  and  for  the  employer  as  well, 
such  organizations,  unabused,  are  of  positive  and  lasting  benefit. 
But  they  have  come  to  the  place  in  the  present  instance  where  no 
man  is  assured  of  life,  liberty  or  the  pursuit  of  happiness  unless  the 
domination  of  the  Building  Trades  Council  shall  cease.  .  .  .  Between 
the  Chicago  Building  Trades  Council  and  the  Contractors  Council 
there  can  be  no  compromise.1 

A  week  later  this  was  followed  by  another  statement,  in 
which  it  was  said,  "There  is  not  the  slightest  desire  on  the 
part  of  any  one  to  discourage  membership  in  the  unions.  But 
there  is  a  definite  and  unconquerable  purpose  of  fighting  the 
Building  Trades  Council  to  the  death.2 

This  challenge  was  accepted  by  the  unions,  and  the  question 
at  issue  resolved  itself  into  the  dissolution  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council.  The  unions  refused  to  give  up  their  central 
organization,  and  the  contractors  refused  to  treat  with  them 
until  they  did.  Other  issues  were  raised  and  discussed  from 
time  to  time,  but  this  remained  the  keynote  of  the  struggle 
until  the  end. 

Both  sides  now  settled  down  to  what  promised  to  be  a  long- 
drawn-out  fight.  Each  party  adopted  measures  and  tactics  to 
win  over  public  opinion  and  to  force  a  surrender  from  the 
other.  In  addition  to  publishing  statements  of  their  position 
and  displaying  cards  in  the  street  cars  and  elevated  trains  show- 
ing the  rates  of  wages  which  they  had  paid  and  were  willing  to 
pay,  the  contractors  attempted  to  continue  work  on  the  most 
important  buildings  under  construction  with  the  help  of  non- 
union men.  On  February  13  the  press  committee  of  the 
Building  Contractors  Council  reported  that  about  1000  men 
were  at  work  on  ninety-five  jobs  throughout  the  city,5  most 
of  them  being  "  independent  union  "  men  or  sailors  and  farm 
hands  who  had  come  to  the  city  in  response  to  advertisements. 
All  the  work  done  was  "  emergency  "  work,  which  had  to  be 

1  Statement  of  the  Building  Contractors   Council.     See   Chicago  papers   of 
February  10. 

2  See  Chicago  papers  of  February  17. 

8  On  March  14  they  reported  2000  nonunion  men  at  work  and  on  June  21, 
3500.  The  labor  men  would  not  admit  more  than  1000. 


114         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

finished  as  soon  as  possible.  Their  energies  were  concentrated 
on  a  few  buildings,  on  which  not  only  nonunion  men  and 
members  of  the  Colored  Federation  of  Labor  went  to  work, 
but  even  some  of  the  contractors  themselves.  As  the  non- 
union men  were  exposed  to  attack  by  union  pickets  and  sym- 
pathizers when  they  left  the  buildings,  the  contractors  next 
resorted  to  the  plan  of  housing  and  feeding  their  employees  in 
the  buildings  on  which  they  were  working.  Between  1 50  and 
200  men  were  so  cared  for  in  the  Merchants'  Loan  and  Trust 
Building  and  the  Western  Electric  Building.1 

The  labor  men,  on  their  part,  did  not  long  remain  passive, 
but  early  took  more  active  and  aggressive  measures  to  insure 
success  in  the  struggle.  The  first  attempt  of  the  unions  was 
to  extend  the  strike  to  other  cities  and  to  secure  sympathetic 
strikes  on  all  buildings  which  Chicago  contractors  were  erect- 
ing outside  of  Chicago.  A  resolution  2  to  this  effect,  in  which 
the  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons'  Union  called  upon  the  In- 
ternational Union  to  take  such  action,  was  speedily  followed  by 
a  similar  move  on  the  part  of  the  Building  Trades  Council. 
They  induced  the  National  Building  Trades  Council  to  send 
out  from  its  headquarters  in  St.  Louis  a  circular  letter  to  all  the 
local  bodies,  asking  all  union  men  to  refuse  to  work  on  buildings 
erected  by  Chicago  contractors  or  architects.  This  seems  not 
to  have  been  successful,  owing  to  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the 
union  men  as  to  where  such  contracts  were  held ;  for  towards 
the  end  of  May  3  the  Building  Trades  Council  repeated  the  re- 
quest. This  time,  however,  they  were  backed  up  by  the  Material 
Trades  Council  and  the  Wood  Workers  Council,  which  secured 
the  pledges  of  their  national  organizations  to  refuse  to  handle 
material  or  to  work  for  Chicago  contractors  in  other  cities.4 

1  One  of  the  picturesque  tactics  of  this  industrial  warfare  was  the  placarding 
of  this  building  with  excerpts  from  the  state  constitution,  statutes,  ordinances, 
etc.,  all  designed  to  show  that  the  strikers  were  in  the  wrong. 

2  Of  February  13. 

3  May  27.     Still  another  notice  was  sent  out  on  June   18  by  the   National 
Building  Trades  Council,  warning  all  union  men  to  keep  away  from  Chicago. 

4  The  writer  has  been  able  to  learn  of  only  one  case  where  a  building  constructed 
by  a  Chicago  contractor  in  another  city  was  held  up.    This  was  in  Denver. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        115 

In  addition  to  thus  boycotting  Chicago  contractors  outside  the 
city,  the  unions  adopted  the  plan  of  attempting  to  boycott  all 
business  men  who  owned  or  rented  buildings  erected  with  non- 
union labor  in  Chicago.  Later  this  system  of  boycotting  was 
extended  to  all  merchants  and  others  who  expressed  sympathy 
with  the  contractors.  Action  was  also  taken  to  prevent  by  per- 
suasion, intimidation,  and  force  the  employment  of  nonunion 
men  by  the  contractors. 


VIII.  EFFECTS  AND  CONDUCT  OF  THE  DISPUTE 

The  bad  effects  of  the  long  continuance  of  the  dispute  were 
felt  not  only  by  the  contending  parties  but  by  the  general 
public  as  well.  While  it  is  impossible  to  say  just  how  many 
men  were  thrown  out  of  employment,  since  the  estimates  varied 
widely,  the  number  probably  did  not  exceed  50,000.  Bradstreet's 
for  March  10  reported  the  number  of  idle  men  at  50,000,  and 
the  following  week  put  it  at  54,000.  On  $[arch  27  James 
O'Connell,  vice  president  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
estimated  the  number  at  40,000.  The  close  of  the  twelfth 
week  of  the  dispute  showed  30,800  men  idle,  according  to  esti- 
mates of  the  unions  ; l  by  the  end  of  June  this  number  had  been 
reduced  to  1 5,000  or  2O,ooo.2  The  number  of  unemployed  dimin- 
ished, as  some  of  those  originally  on  strike  returned  to  work 
or  found  other  occupations,  while  many  obtained  employment 
at  their  trades  in  other  cities.  The  fact  that  so  many  men  were 
without  employment  for  so  long  a  time  necessarily  caused  con- 
siderable want  and  even  suffering  among  the  strikers,  though 
the  unions  claimed  to  have  sufficient  funds  to  care  for  all  their 
members.  Some  of  the  stronger  unions,  like  the  carpenters  and 
plumbers,  paid  weekly  strike  benefits  of  about  $5  per  member. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  the  Building  Trades  Council  itself 
furnished  orders  for  food  and  paid  the  rent  of  those  in  actual 
need.  Contributions  were  made  by  the  national  organizations 

1  Chicago  Record,  May  4. 

2  Estimate  of  the  labor  men  to  the  writer. 


Il6         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  several  of  the  trades,1  as  well  as  by  trades  unions  in  other 
lines,  both  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere.  Thus,  the  "  convention 
of  all  trade  unions  of  Chicago,"  held  on  May  13,  voted  to 
assess  all  its  members  fifty  cents  a  week  to  assist  the  Building 
Trades  Council  during  the  rest  of  the  dispute. 

That  these  and  even  larger  contributions  would  be  needed 
became  evident,  as  the  dispute  dragged  along  without  indica- 
tion of  speedy  settlement  and  distress  showed  itself  more 
plainly  among  the  idle  men.  Striking  proof  of  the  bad  effect 
of  the  long  idleness  was  found  in  the  growth  of  the  pawn- 
broking  business,2  the  extension  of  the  credit  system  among 
the  stores  catering  to  the  working  classes,  the  falling  off  in  the 
business  of  the  department  stores,  theaters,  and  street  railways,3 
and  the  migration  of  many  workers  in  the  building  trades  from 
Chicago.  Real  estate  dealers  stated  that  hundreds  of  laborers 
had  been  forced  to  cease  payments  on  houses  which  they  were 
buying  on  the  installment  plan  and  were  in  danger  of  losing 
their  homes.4  put  the  building  trades  dispute  threatened  to 
have  more  serious  consequences  than  the  temporary  suffering 
of  those  engaged.  By  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  month 
of  the  dispute  it  was  estimated  that  between  3000  and  5000 
workmen  had  left  the  city  and  found  permanent  employment 
elsewhere,  while  almost  every  union  in  the  Chicago  Building 
Trades  Council  had  applications  on  its  books  for  men  to  go 
to  other  points.  Builders  stated  at  the  beginning  of  June 5 
that  there  were  500  unfinished  buildings  in  Chicago,  and 
architects  claimed  that  they  had  an  equal  number  of  plans  of 

1  For  example,  the  bricklayers  and  stone  masons,  the  carpenters,  the  National 
Building  Trades  Council,  the  steam  fitters,  the  plumbers,  and  the  gas  fitters. 

2  Within  the  month  of  May  eleven  new  "  loan  banks  "  were  licensed  in  Chicago. 

3  Street  railway  men  claimed  that  they  were  losing  $1000  a  day  during  the 
dispute,  while  one  of  the  largest  department  stores,  where  the  working  people 
dealt  largely,  reported  that  sales  fell  off  $50,000  a  week. 

4  Other  proofs  of  the  hardship  caused  by  the  building  trades  dispute,  though 
less  apparent,  were  the  increase  in  the  number  of  women  and  girls  from  the 
strikers'  families  who  went  to  work  during  this  time  and  the  increased  patronage 
of  the  "  free-lunch  "  counters  in  saloons.    These  facts  were  attested  by  workers 
from  Hull  House  and  the  Chicago  Commons. 

5  Chicago  Record,  June  9. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        I  i  7 

new  buildings  which  were  being  held  until  industrial  peace 
should  be  restored.1  Freight  managers  and  material  men 
united  with  the  retail  merchants  and  others  in  lamenting  the 
depression  in  business  and  urging  a  speedy  settlement.  But 
more  important,  if  true,  was  a  statement  2  to  the  effect  that 
twenty  manufacturers  were  getting  ready  to  move  from  Chi- 
cago as  a  result  of  the  labor  troubles,  while  eight  or  nine  more 
had  already  selected  sites.3  It  became  evident  that  Chicago's 
commercial  and  manufacturing  supremacy  was  threatened  by 
the  continuance  of  the  trouble. 

The  progress  of  the  building  trades  dispute  was  marked  by 
the  usual  amount  of  lawlessness.  Most  of  the  outbreaks  con- 
sisted in  assaults  upon  nonunion  men  by  union  pickets  and 
sympathizers.  During  the  first  five  months  of  the  strike  the 
papers  reported  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  specific  cases  of 
assault  upon  nonunion  men,  of  which  about  thirty  resulted  in 
serious  injuries,  from  the  effects  of  which  there  were  three  deaths. 
Two  union  men  were  killed  and  a  dozen  were  assaulted,  as  were 
also  contractors,  special  policemen,  and  others.  Less  than  twenty 
arrests  were  reported  during  this  time.  During  the  summer 
there  was  a  lull,  but  in  November  the  union  pickets  instituted 
a  series  of  attacks  on  the  nonunion  laborers  employed  on  the 
Mandel  Building,  in  which  a  foreman  was  shot  to  death  and  a 
number  of  men  injured. 

One  of  the  chief  causes  for  the  great  number  of  assaults  that 
took  place  was  undoubtedly  the  nonenforcement  of  the  law 
against  the  strikers.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  dispute  the 
contractors  had  demanded  police  protection  for  their  property 
and  for  nonunion  men  whom  they  employed,  while  the  Chicago 

1  See  an  open  letter  of  Hibbard,  Spencer,  Bartlett  &  Co.  of  November  28, 
which  stated  that  unless  more  stable  conditions  prevailed  among  the  unions,  a 
store  and  warehouse  which  they  were  planning  would  either  "  be  erected  without 
the  employment  of  a  union  man,  or  it  will  not  be  erected  at  all." 

2  By  M.  B.  Madden,  president  of  the  Western  Cut  Stone  Company,  April  13. 

8  The  International  Power  Company,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  had  selected  Chi- 
cago as  the  location  of  a  large  automobile  factory  and  secured  options  on  prop- 
erty there,  but  after  investigating  the  condition  of  the  labor  market  they  decided 
to  go  elsewhere.  —  Chicago  Tribune,  December  i,  1900. 


Il8         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Federation  of  Labor  protested  against  the  use  of  police  for  such 
purposes.  Failing  to  secure  adequate  protection  from  the  city 
police,  the  contractors  swore  in  about  five  hundred  detectives 
and  special  policemen  to  guard  their  buildings;1  the  Building 
Trades  Council  protested  to  the  mayor  against  the  employment 
of  these  men.2  At  first  the  attitude  of  the  police  had  been 
merely  to  prevent  rioting  and  to  permit  picketing  so  long  as 
the  pickets  did  not  openly  molest  the  nonunion  workers.  An 
opinion  of  the  corporation  counsel  showed,  however,  that  where 
intimidation  enters,  whether  by  reason  of  threats  or  of  large 
numbers,  picketing  is  illegal.  As  a  result  of  this  opinion  and 
of  a  vigorously  expressed  public  demand,  the  chief  of  police 
finally  issued  an  order  to  his  men  "to  arrest  the  ringleaders 
in  all  assaults."  Mayor  Harrison  further  directed  that  only  two 
pickets  should  be  allowed  to  remain  at  each  building.  When 
the  second  outbreak  occurred  in  November  a  large  force  of 
policemen  was  detailed  to  guard  the  buildings  and  protect  non- 
union workmen,  and  the  disturbances  were  soon  quelled.  Such 
repeated  lawlessness  on  the  part  of  the  walking  delegates  and 
union  pickets  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  had  learned  noth- 
ing from  the  long-continued  controversy,  and  served  only  to 
alienate  public  sympathy. 

The  contractors  claimed  throughout  the  dispute,  and  appar- 
ently not  without  good  cause,  that  "  politics  was  mixed  up  in  it." 
On  this  point  an  indictment  of  the  unions  by  one  of  their  best 
friends  may  be  cited. 

Public  opinion  claims  the  right  to  criticise  frankly  and  fearlessly  the 
policy  of  the  Building  Trades  Council.  It  criticises  the  policy  that 
tolerates  the  acceptance  of  appointive  political  offices  as  the  most 
disastrous  policy  that  has  ever  paralyzed  the  power  or  menaced  the 
future  of  organized  labor  in  Chicago.  These  offices  are  offered  as 

1  They  were  employed  for  ten  weeks,  and  the  cost  to  the  contractors  was 
estimated  at  $75,000.  —  Chicago  Record,  May  5. 

2  The  attitude  of  the  latter  organization  is  indicated  by  a  statement  made  by 
John  A.  Long,  president  of  the  Board  of  Business  Agents,  before  the  Industrial 
Commission,  to  the  effect  that  he  did  not  approve  of  police  protection,  "  because 
the  men  who  are  at  fault  and  who  are  causing  the  trouble  are  not  entitled  to 
protection." 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        119 

subsidies.    Their  incumbents   are  really  held   as   hostages  for  the 
delivery  of  the  labor  vote.1 

While  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  exactly  how  many  of  the 
labor  leaders  held  appointive  offices  under  the  city  administra- 
tion there  is  no  doubt  that  the  number  was  disgracefully  large.2 
The  most  conspicuous  case  was  the  appointment  of  Edward 
Carroll,  president  of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  to  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Chicago  Civil  Service  Board.3  That  there  was  a 
deliberate  pact  between  the  labor  leaders  and  the  politicians  in 
power  seems  sufficiently  indicated  by  a  change  that  was  made 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Building  Trades  Council  two  or 
three  years  ago,  by  which  Section  3  was  stricken  out.  This 
section  read  as  follows  : 

No  person  shall  be  eligible  as  a  delegate  to  this  council  who  holds 
a  political  office,  either  elective  or  appointive  ...  (a  political  office 
shall  be  defined  as  being  employed  in  any  capacity  by  the  nation, 
state,  county  or  city). 

There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  leaders  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council  had  subordinated  the  best  interests  of  that  body 
to  their  own  personal  advantage  and  that  the  best  elements 
were  not  in  control.  This  was  felt  by  the  unions  themselves, 
and  a  complete  reorganization  of  the  council  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  effected  through  the  efforts  of  the  rank  and  file, 
had  not  the  opposition  of  the  employers  given  the  leaders  a 
rallying  cry.  The  officers  and  business  agents  appealed  to  the 
members  to  show  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  union  labor 
by  upholding  the  organization.  The  men  responded  loyally  to 
this  appeal ;  but  after  the  contest  had  dragged  along  for  almost 

1  Speech  of  Professor  Graham  Taylor  before  the  labor  mass  meeting  of  May  13. 

2  The  result  of  an  investigation  in  the  fall  of  1899  was  said  to  show  that  two 
thirds  of  the  officials  of  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  and  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council  held  such  offices.    A  list  of  thirteen  names  was  published  by  the 
New  York  Sun,  May  27,  but  there  were  undoubtedly  others.    W.  J.  Chalmers, 
in  his  testimony  before  the  Industrial  Commission,  March  20,  stated  that  twenty- 
two  leading  men  of  labor  organizations  held  positions  in  the  city  hall. 

3  Mr.  Carroll  resigned,  under  pressure,  on  April  29. 


120        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

six  months,  with  no  prospect  of  a  settlement,  dissatisfaction 
began  to  manifest  itself.  At  the  end  of  July  occurred  the 
election  of  officers  of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  and  as  this 
gave  the  members  the  first  opportunity  of  passing  judgment 
on  the  administration  since  the  beginning  of  the  dispute,  it  was 
regarded  as  very  important  by  both  contractors  and  labor  men. 
But  the  election  by  the  council  on  July  27  of  all  its  old  officers 
seemed  to  place  the  stamp  of  approval  on  the  acts  of  its 
executive  and  at  the  same  time  destroyed  all  hope  of  a  compro- 
mise settlement.  A  week  later  the  Board  of  Business  Agents 
reflected  all  its  former  officers. 

The  conservative  element  was  strong  enough,  however,  to 
insist  on  certain  reforms  within  the  Building  Trades  Council 
itself.  One  of  these  was  the  amendment  of  the'  constitution 
so  as  to  forbid  the  holding  of  a  political  office  by  a  delegate, 
another  was  a  modification  of  the  basis  of  representation  so 
as  to  give  more  power  to  the  larger  unions,  and  a  third  was 
the  substitution  of  the  vote  by  individuals  for  the  "trade"  or 
unit  vote.  The  carpenters  were  particularly  anxious  for  these 
reforms,  and  it  was  understood  that  their  adoption  was  the 
price  which  had  to  be  paid  for  the  support  given  to  the  council 
by  the  carpenters  when  the  question  of  withdrawal  from  the 
strike  came  up  for  vote.  The  growth  of  dissatisfaction  with 
the  policy  of  the  leaders  in  the  Building  Trades  Council  found 
more  decided  expression  a  little  later  in  the  retirement  of 
Edward  Carroll  from  office.  First  his  own  union,  the  plas- 
terers, refused  on  September  i,  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one,  to 
reelect  him  to  the  office  of  financial  secretary,  which  he  had 
held  for  ten  years.  A  month  later,  on  October  5,  Mr.  Carroll 
resigned,  under  pressure,  from  the  presidency  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council.  In  his  letter  of  resignation  he  gave  as  his 
reason  the  alleged  announcement  of  the  contractors  that  if 
he  resigned  they  would  make  agreements  with  all  the  unions. 
William  G.  Schardt  was  elected  president  in  his  place,  but  as 
the  same  political  clique  was  back  of  the  new  president,  no 
noticeable  change  of  policy  was  inaugurated.  It  had  by  this 
time  become  pretty  clear  that  no  compromise  could  be  hoped 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE-     121 

for,  and  the  struggle  narrowed  down  to  a  test  of  endurance 
between  the  Building  Trades  Council  and  the  Building  Con- 
tractors Council. 

IX.  ATTEMPTS  AT  ARBITRATION 

The  history  of  this  dispute  proves  that  there  are  some 
matters  in  labor  troubles  which  cannot  be  settled  by  arbitra- 
tion between  employers  and  employees.  Such  questions  as 
those  relating  to  wages  or  hours  of  labor  may  well  be  settled 
in  that  manner,  for  they  turn  on  a  single  economic  fact  and 
may  be  determined  according  to  that  fact.  Broader  issues 
connected  with  the  labor  problem  are  not  always  capable  of 
being  arbitrated,  and  such  an  issue  was  raised  here.  Briefly 
stated,  it  was  a  contest  for  control  of  the  conditions  under 
which  work  should  be  carried  on,  and  involved  the  right  of 
interference  in  the  conduct  of  the  business  of  the  contractors 
by  the  representatives  of  the  unions.  It  was  a  struggle  over 
an  economic  principle  and  could  not  be  settled  by  the  dictum 
of  any  court  of  arbitration ;  nor  was  it  subject  to  compromise, 
for  it  called  for  the  surrender  of  one  side  or  the  other.  This 
was  the  issue  involved  in  the  demand  of  the  contractors  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  Building  Trades  Council. 

Arbitration  did  not  fail  for  lack  of  attempts  on  the  part  of 
outsiders  to  bring  the  parties  to  the  struggle  to  some  sort 
of  agreement.  No  less  than  seven  attempts  were  thus  made. 
Only  a  little  more  than  two  weeks  after  the  beginning  of 
the  dispute  Mayor  Harrison  wrote1  both  to  the  Building  Con- 
tractors Council  and  the  Building  Trades  Council,  asking 
them  to  appoint  committees  for  the  purpose  of  conferring 
together  with  a  view  to  harmonizing  the  differences  between 
the  two  organizations.  He  suggested  that  the  meetings  be 
held  in  his  office  and  offered  to  act  as  chairman.  This  invi- 
tation was  accepted  by  the  labor  men,  but  declined  by  the 
Contractors  Council.  The  latter  stated  that  they  were  unwill- 
ing to  enter  into  negotiations,  because  two  attempts  which 

1  On  February  21. 


122         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

they  had  made  at  arbitration  with  the  Building  Trades  Council 
had  failed.1  But 

the  reason  back  of  all  others  in  the  refusal  of  the  contractors  to 
have  further  dealings  with  the  Building  Trades  Council  is  the 
knowledge  that,  as  an  organization,  it  has  become  so  tyrannical,  cor- 
rupt and  lawless  that  its  existence  will  render  the  prosperity  of  the 
building  industry  an  impossibility.  The  first  step  toward  solving 
the  problem  is  the  dissolution  of  the  Building  Trades  Council. 

For  this  refusal  to  arbitrate  the  contractors  were  much  criti- 
cised by  the  unions  and  others,  and  the  unwillingness  to  sub- 
mit their  case  to  a  court  was  cited  as  evidence  of  a  bad  cause. 
Such  action,  however,  does  not  necessarily  put  the  party  so 
refusing  in  the  wrong.  From  the  very  beginning  the  con- 
tractors took  the  position  that  they  would  not  arbitrate  with 
the  Building  Trades  Council,  but  expressed  themselves  as  ready 
at  any  time  to  come  to  terms  with  the  separate  unions,  provided 
they  would  withdraw  from  that  body.  Whether  right  or  wrong 
they  were  at  least  consistent  in  maintaining  this  attitude 
throughout  the  struggle.  Though  the  union  men  professed 
themselves  ready  to  submit  their  case  to  arbitration  at  any 
time,  they  would  do  so  only  through  the  medium  of  the  Build- 
ing Trades  Council.  Such  an  utterly  antagonistic  attitude  as 
was  assumed  by  the  two  parties  to  the  dispute  made  arbitration 
impossible  from  the  very  beginning  —  so  much  so  that  during 
the  investigation  made  in  Chicago  by  the  Federal  Industrial 
Commission,  Mr.  Harris,  a  member  of  the  subcommittee,  was 
led  to  exclaim,2  "  It  looks  as  though  you  had  placed  the  whole 
matter  beyond  the  power  of  arbitration." 

Another  offer  at  mediation,  by  the  Civic  Federation  of 
Chicago,  met  with  no  encouragement  from  either  side.3  An 
attempt  made  by  P.  J.  McGuirej  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Car- 
penters and  Joiners,  to  secure  a  conference  failed  on  the 
same  ground.4  The  next  move  was  the  result  of  a  conference 

1  September  and  December,  1899. 

2  To  Edward  Carroll,  president  of  the  Building  Trades  Council.    See  Chicago 
Times-Herald,  March  29.  3  March  n.  *  April  3. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        123 

between  the  mayor  and  the  building  material  dealers.1  The 
latter  threatened  that  if  either  side  refused  a  fair  offer  to 
restore  harmony,  they  would  aid  the  other  side  in  the  struggle. 
In  spite  of  this  threat,  however,  the  contractors  refused  to  arbi- 
trate with  the  Building  Trades  Council  and  the  unions  refused  to 
arbitrate  except  through  that  body.2  Undaunted  by  the  failure 
of  the  mayor  to  bring  the  dispute  to  an  end,  the  city  council 
now  appointed  a  special  committee  of  six  aldermen,  who  to- 
gether with  five  citizens  were  to  investigate  the  labor  troubles 
and  try  to  secure  a  settlement  of  them.3  The  Building  Trades 
Council  again  announced  its  willingness  to  aid  the  committee, 
while  the  Building  Contractors  Council  again  refused  any  offer 
of  mediation.  They  restated  their  readiness  to  arbitrate  with 
any  single  union,  provided  it  would  withdraw  from  the  council, 
but  refused  to  meet  representatives  from  that  body.  More- 
over, they  asserted  that  the  "cardinal  principles"  for  which 
they  stood  could  not  be  submitted  to  arbitration. 

The  next  effort  at  mediation  was  made  under  the  leadership 
of  Professor  Graham  Taylor,  as  the  outcome  of  a  "  convention 
of  all  trades  unions"  held  on  May  13,  with  600  delegates 
representing  190  labor  organizations  in  attendance.  It  was 
decided  that  a  committee  of  seven  persons  should  be  created 
to  "investigate  the  building  trades  lockout  thoroughly  and 
endeavor  to  reach  a  settlement,"  this  committee  to  consist 
of  three  members  of  labor  organizations  outside  of  the  Build- 
ing Trades  Council,  three  disinterested  men  from  commercial 
organizations,  and  Professor  Taylor  as  chairman.  The  com- 
mittee was  never  fully  organized,  as  members  of  the  Real 
Estate  Board  and  other  business  associations  declined  invita- 
tions to  serve,  and  the  Building  Contractors  Council  refused 
to  participate  in  the  investigation.  On  July  I,  however,  the 
labor  members  made  a  report,  which  expressed  their  confidence 
in  the  officers  of  the  Building  Trades  Council  and  placed  the 
whole  responsibility  for  the  dispute  upon  the  contractors.  Still 

1  April  19. 

2  In  explanation  of  their  position  the  contractors  issued  a  statement,  later 
referred  to  as  the  "  circular  of  April  30."    See  below,  p.  125.  8  April  25. 


124         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

another  attempt  was  made  by  the  Real  Estate  Board  on  May  22, 
when  its  directors  were  authorized  to  act  as  arbitrators  when- 
ever requested  to  do  so  by  both  parties  to  the  controversy.  No 
results  followed  this  action,  however,  as  neither  the  contractors 
nor  the  union  men  requested  the  intervention. 

Finally,  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  took  up  the  mat- 
ter some  two  months  later,  and  at  a  meeting  of  its  executive 
council  at  Denver,  July  19,  appointed  a  committee  of  three, 
with  President  Gompers  at  the  head,  to  investigate  and  to 
attempt  to  arbitrate  the  difficulty.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
month  conferences  were  held  in  Chicago  by  the  committee, 
with  both  the  Building  Trades  Council  and  the  Building  Con- 
tractors Council;  but  these  efforts  at  arbitration  failed  for  the 
same  reason  that  had  prevented  settlement  before,  namely, 
the  refusal  of  the  contractors  to  enter  into  agreements  with 
the  Building  Trades  Council.  The  contractors,  however,  ex- 
pressed their  willingness  to  make  agreements  with  represent- 
atives of  national  or  international  unions  or  with  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  As  President  Gompers  refused  to  con- 
sider this  proposal,  negotiations  ceased.  Additional  suggestions 
for  the  settlement  of  the  dispute  were  freely  made  by  promi- 
nent citizens,  newspapers,  and  others  interested  in  its  con- 
clusion, but  they  all  proved  equally  futile.  Throughout  the 
controversy  the  state  board  of  arbitration  was  completely 
ignored  by  both  parties. 

At  one  time  the  action  of  the  Building  Trades  Council  itself 
in  requesting  the  Contractors  Council  to  appoint  a  conference 
committee  seemed  likely  to  lead  to  a  conclusion  of  the  dispute. 
This  invitation  was  accepted  by  the  Contractors  Council  on 
condition  that  the  union  conferees  should  not  be  their  business 
agents  or  delegates  to  their  council.  As  this  demand  was 
acceded  to,  a  conference  was  held1  between  representatives  of 
the  unions  and  of  the  employers'  associations  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  a  settlement.  As  the  basis  of  the  conference  the 
contractors  presented  their  declaration  of  principles  of  April  30 
together  with  the  interpretation  they  put  upon  them.  This 

1  On  June  12  and  following  days. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        125 

was  practically  only  a  reiteration  of  their  former  principles. 
They  announced  their  willingness  to  enter  into  agreements 
with  the  individual  unions,  provided  the  following  conditions 
were  observed: 

1.  (a)  That  there  shall  be  no  limitation  as  to  the  amount  of  work 
a  man  shall  perform  during  his  working  day. 

(ft)  That  there  shall  be  no  restriction  of  the  use  of  machinery  or 
tools. 

(V)  That  there  shall  be  no  restriction  of  the  use  of  manufactured 
material,  except  prison-made. 

(d)  That  no  person  shall  ha.ve  the  right  to  interfere  with  the  work- 
men during  working  hours. 

(e)  That  the  use  of  apprentices  shall  not  be  prohibited. 
(/)  That  the  foreman  shall  be  the  agent  of  the  employer. 

(g)  That  all  workmen  are  at  liberty  to  work  for  whomever  they 
see  fit. 

(h)  That  employers  shall  be  at  liberty  to  employ  and  discharge 
whomever  they  see  fit. 

2.  That  the  following  conditions  are  made  a  part  of  the  agree- 
ment: 

(a)  That  eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  work. 

(b)  That  the  rate  of  wages  shall  be  [that  prevailing  in  each  trade 
the  previous  year]. 

(c)  That  time  and  one  half  shall  be  paid  for  overtime,  and  double 
time  for  Sundays  and  holidays. 

(d)  That  the  agreement  shall  cover  a  period  of  not  less  than  three 
years. 

(e)  That  an  arbitration  clause  to  provide  for  the  adjustment  of 
possible  difficulties  in  the  future  be  made  a  part  of  the  agreement. 

(/)  That  no  by-law  or  rule  conflicting  with  this  agreement  shall 
be  enforced  or  passed  by  the  association  or  union  during  the  life  of 
the  agreement. 

(£-)  That  this  agreement  shall  become  operative  only  when  the 
union  withdraws  permanently  from  the  Building  Trades  Council  and 
agrees  not  to  be  affiliated  with  any  organization  of  a  like  character 
during  the  life  of  the  agreement. 

The  unions  were  unwilling  to  give  up  their  central  organiza- 
tion, but  in  return  proposed  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of 
standing  arbitration  committees  which  should  settle  all  matters 


126         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

in  dispute,  work  to  continue  pending'their  decision,  thus  doing 
away  with  the  sympathetic  strike.  As  the  objection  of  the 
contractors  to  the  Building  Trades  Council  was  based  largely 
on  the  latter's  use  of  the  sympathetic  strike  to  enforce  its 
demands,  it  was  thought  that  they  would  permit  its  continu- 
ance if  robbed  of  this  weapon.  Upon  the  flat  refusal  of  the 
contractors  to  accept  anything  less  than  the  dissolution  of  the 
Building  Trades  Council  itself,  the  negotiations  were  broken 
off  at  this  point.  A  few  days  later,  however,  the  labor  men 
requested  another  conference  with  the  contractors  and  this  time 
submitted  a  statement  of  their  position  on  the  various  points 
raised  by  the  contractors'  circular.  They  conceded  five  demands 
without  a  change,  namely,  the  first,  third,  fifth,  and  seventh  of 
the  first  set  and  the  fifth  demand  of  the  second  set.  The  ques- 
tions of  machinery  and  the  rate  of  wages  were  to  be  left  to 
arbitration,  and  a  standing  arbitration  committee  was  to  be 
established,  to  which  should  be  referred  all  disputes.  On  the 
other  points  there  was  a  slight  difference  :  the  unions  insisted 
that  their  agent  should  visit  all  work  when  necessary ;  that  the 
foreman,  while  an  agent  of  the  employer,  should  be  a  union  man  ; 
and  that  they  should  reserve  the  right  to  refuse  to  work  with 
nonunion  men.  No  mention  was  made  of  the  dissolution  of  the 
Building  Trades  Council,  but  the  right  to  order  strikes  was  taken 
from  it  and  it  was  thought  that  this  concession  would  meet  the 
wishes  of  the  contractors  on  this  point.  The  labor  men  had 
gone  considerably  more  than  halfway  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  employers,  and  when  the  latter  rejected  absolutely  these 
propositions  of  the  unions,  it  was  felt  that  they  had  determined 
upon  the  rule-or-ruin  policy.  As  no  compromise  was  possible, 
negotiations  were  broken  off  for  the  second  time. 


X.  DEFECTIONS  FROM  THE  BUILDING  TRADES  COUNCIL 

The  contractors  were  undoubtedly  influenced  in  assuming 
this  uncompromising  attitude  by  the  belief  that  the  unions 
could  not  hold  out  much  longer  and  would  soon  be  compelled 
to  surrender  unconditionally.  At  first  it  seemed  as  though 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        127 

their  calculations  were  correct,  for  on  June  26  the  Bricklayers 
and  Stone  Masons'  Union,  one  of  the  most  powerful  organiza- 
tions in  the  Building  Trades  Council,  decided  to  withdraw  from 
that  body  and  sign  a  separate  agreement  with  the  Chicago 
Masons  and  Builders  Association.  This  agreement  was  to  run 
for  three  years  and  contained  most  of  the  principles  for  which 
the  contractors  had  stood  out ;  it  provided  also  for  a  joint  arbi- 
tration board.1  Although  this  defection  was  heralded  by  the 
contractors  as  the  beginning  of  the  end,  it  was  claimed  by  the 
labor  leaders  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  bricklayers  removed 
the  one  inharmonious  element  in  the  Building  Trades  Council 
and  left  that  organization  a  unit  to  carry  on  the  fight.2 

For  the  next  month  there  was  a  decided  calm  in  building 
trades  circles.  The  contractors  evidently  expected  other  unions 
to  follow  the  lead  of  the  bricklayers,  while  the  efforts  of  the 
labor  leaders  were  directed  toward  keeping  them  in  line.  The 
apparent  success  of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  by  the  elec- 
tion at  the  end  of  July  of  all  its  old  officers,  seemed  also  to 
show  that  it  was  determined  to  pursue  its  former  policy ;  and 
from  that  time  began  the  slow  disintegration  of  the  central 
body.  For  the  next  few  months  the  history  of  the  dispute  is 

1  The  bricklayers'  agreement  served  as  a  model  for  a  uniform  agreement  which 
was  submitted  early  in  September  to  all  the  unions.    This  began  by  reciting  that 
it  was  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  strikes  and  lockouts  and  of  facilitating  a 
peaceful  adjustment  of  all  grievances  and  disputes  which  might  arise  from  time  to 
time.    As  a  basis  for  joint- working  rules  and  to  govern  the  action  of  the  arbitra- 
tion board  there  was  laid  down  a  code  of  principles  which  consisted  of  the  eight 
cardinal  demands  of  the  contractors.    The  following  points  were  also  contained  in 
it :  eight  hours  as  a  day's  work  ;  the  Saturday  half  holiday  during  the  months  of 
June,  July,  and  August ;  time  and  a  half  for  overtime  and  double  time  for  Sun- 
days and  holidays ;  no  work  on  Labor  Day ;  all  disputes  to  be  submitted  to  a  joint 
board  of  arbitration  with  the  fullest  power  to  enforce  its  edicts.    By  the  last 
provision  the  sympathetic  strike  was  abolished.    The  agreement  was  to  become 
operative  only  when  the  union  should  withdraw  permanently  from  the  Building 
Trades  Council  and  should  agree  not  to  become  affiliated  with  any  organization 
of  a  like  character  during  the  life  of  the  agreement. 

All  the  agreements  made  subsequently  with  the  various  unions  followed  the 
lines  of  this  one,  though  modifications  were  often  made  in  particular  points. 

2  The  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons'  union  had  not  joined  the  Building  Trades 
Council  until  April,  1899,  and  had  never  been  in  complete  harmony  with  that 
organization. —  The  Bricklayer  and  Mason  (New  York),  April,  1900,  p.  4. 


128         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

a  record  of  the  action  of  the  several  unions.  A  split  in  the 
union  of  the  hoisting  engineers  was  the  first  act  to  follow  the 
withdrawal  of  the  bricklayers,  and  on  July  28  the  seceding 
faction,  composed  of  about  fifty  members,  afterwards  organized 
under  the  name  of  the  United  Brotherhood  of  Hoisting  Engi- 
neers, signed  a  working  agreement  with  the  Building  Elevator 
Contractors'  Association.  As  E.  A.  Davis,  the  reflected  sec- 
retary of  the  Building  Trades  Council,  was  a  member  of  this 
union,  this  was  regarded  as  an  especially  significant  move. 
The  next  break  came  in  the  suspension  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Electrical  Mechanics  from  the  council.  The  latter  body  had 
ordered  the  Brotherhood  to  turn  over  certain  work  to  the  gas 
fitters,  and  on  their  refusal  had  fined  them  $300  and  suspended 
them  from  the  organization.  Suspension  carried  with  it  the 
loss  of  union  working  cards  in  Chicago,  but  the  electricians 
later  obtained  these  from  the  National  Building  Trades  Council. 
While  there  was  thus  no  formal  withdrawal  from  the  local 
council,  the  action  of  the  electricians  was  considered  tanta- 
mount to  this. 

An  attempt  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  Cut 
Stone  Contractors'  Association  to  secure  the  withdrawal  of  that 
organization  from  the  Building  Contractors  Council  met  with 
signal  defeat  about  this  time,  showing  that  the  contractors  were 
determined  to  hold  together. 

Next  to  the  Bricklayers'  Union  that  of  the  carpenters1  was 
the  most  important  and  powerful  in  the  Building  Trades  Coun- 
cil, and  its  rather  vacillating  course  during  the  next  few  months 
was  watched  with  anxiety  and  interest.  After  a  failure  to 
reach  an  agreement  with  the  contractors,  owing  largely  to  dis- 
agreement over  the  Saturday  half  holiday,  and  the  rejection  by 
a  small  majority  of  -a  proposal  to  withdraw  from  the  Building 
Trades  Council,  some  of  the  dissatisfied  members  formed  an 
independent  organization  and  in  September  signed  a  three-year 

1  There  are  two  organizations  of  carpenters  in  Chicago  —  the  United  Brother- 
hood of  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  which  is  composed  of  nineteen  unions  and  about 
4700  members,  and  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  which 
has  five  unions  and  some  300  members. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        129 

agreement  with  the  employers'  associations.  Further  negotia- 
tions with  the  contractors  were  had  during  October  and  Novem- 
ber by  the  regular  unions,  but  without  result.  Finally,  however, 
on  February  7,  1901,  just  a  year  from  the  beginning  of  the 
dispute,  an  agreement  was  reached  by  which  the  men  secured 
the  Saturday  half  holiday  and  agreed  to  leave  the  council.  In 
all  essentials  the  agreement  resembled  that  adopted  by  the 
bricklayers,  although  one  clause  provided  that  the  union  might 
join  "a  new  central  body,  composed  solely  of  mechanic  trades 
employed  on  buildings,  .  .  .  and  that  said  body  shall  not  be 
called  the  '  Building  Trades  Council.' '  The  very  name  was 
evidently  under  the  ban  of  the  contractors !  Several  of  the 
strongest  unions,  therefore,  applied  for  admission  to  the  Chicago 
Federation  of  Labor. 

The  Plumbers'  Union  had  proposed  to  the  contractors  in  July 
that  if  they  would  withdraw  from  the  Building  Contractors 
Council,  the  plumbers  would  withdraw  from  the  Building 
Trades  Council,  and  they  could  then  frame  an  agreement 
together  without  difficulty.  The  Master  Plumbers  Association 
refused,  however,  to  act  upon  this  suggestion.  Two  or  three 
further  attempts  to  secure  agreements  with  the  contractors 
failing,  and  efforts  to  secure  the  withdrawal  of  the  union  from 
the  Building  Trades  Council  being  unsuccessful,  some  of  the 
dissatisfied  members  of  the  union  withdrew  individually  and 
went  to  work  for  all  contractors  who  paid  the  union  scale  of 
wages  and  employed  only  union  men,  without  reference  to  any 
agreement.  The  seceders  organized  themselves  later  into  an 
independent  union  under  the  name  of  the  Journeymen  Plumb- 
ers Association  and  on  December  18  secured  a  charter.  By 
January  the  old  union  also  was  ready  to  withdraw  from  the 
council  and  a  unification  of  the  two  organizations  was  effected, 
after  which  an  agreement  similar  to  the  others  was  made  with 
the  employers. 

The  second  organization  to  withdraw  from  the  Building 
Trades  Council  in  its  corporate  capacity  was  the  Plasterers' 
Union.  On  July  9  they  had  refused  to  ratify  an  agreement 
with  the  contractors  similar  to  that  made  by  the  bricklayers, 


130        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

but  a  month  later  another  agreement  along  the  same  lines  was 
brought  before  the  union.  Withdrawal  from  the  Building 
Trades  Council  was  of  course  provided  for,  and  in  other 
respects  it  differed  but  slightly  from  the  bricklayers'  agree- 
ment. Ratification  of  this  agreement  seemed  probable,  but  was 
defeated  by  the  arbitrary  methods  of  Edward  Carroll  and  other 
members  at  the  meeting  of  the  union,  —  an  action  which 
undoubtedly  hurt  the  Building  Trades  Council  more  than  any- 
thing else.  At  the  end  of  September  Carroll  was  forced  from 
the  presidency  of  the  council,  and  a  day  later  the  Plasterers' 
Union  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  Employing  Plas- 
terers' Association  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  an  agreement 
with  that  organization.  After  some  rather  dramatic  maneuvers 
by  both  factions,  this  was  finally  ratified  by  a  majority  of  the 
members  on  October  5,  a  move  which  carried  with  it  the  with- 
drawal of  the  union  from  the  Building  Trades  Council. 

The  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers  formally  withdrew 
from  the  Building  Trades  Council  on  October  25  and  at  the 
same  time  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Iron  League, 
the  association  of  the  contractors.  This  was  the  third  organi- 
zation to  sever  its  connection  .with  the  council,  and  while  not 
as  strong  numerically  as  the  other  two,  it  was  made  up  of  the 
Mite  of  the  skilled  workers  in  the  building  trades  and  had  con- 
siderable influence.  Their  agreement  followed  the  general  lines 
of  the  uniform  agreement,  such  as  was  entered  into  with  the 
bricklayers  and  plasterers,  the  main  difference  being  a  clause 
giving  the  contractors  the  right  to  hire  nonunion  men  in  other 
lines  on  the  same  job.  One  significant  clause  provided  that 
the  union  might  belong  to  a  new  central  organization  not  the 
Building  Trades  Council. 

If  it  was  to  win  in  the  struggle  with  the  contractors  and 
save  itself,  it  was  apparent  that  the  Building  Trades  Council 
must  stop  the  disintegration  that  threatened  to  end  its  own 
existence.  It  was,  accordingly,  now  decided  to  adopt  the  plan 
of  fighting  the  contractors  one  at  a  time  until  each  was  forced 
in  turn  to  capitulate.  The  first  job  singled  out  for  attack  was 
the  new  Mandel  Building,  and  on  November  20  all  the  men 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        131 

at  work  on  that  building  were  called  out  on  strike.  Although 
this  was  the  first  aggressive  move  that  the  Building  Trades 
Council  had  made  in  several  months,  they  seemed  not  to  have 
learned  wisdom  in  that  time,  for  the  progress  of  this  strike  was 
marked  by  a  new  outburst  of  lawlessness.  The  strike  was  of 
short  duration,  for  the  places  of  the  strikers  were  soon  filled, 
while  the  immoderate  action  of  the  labor  leaders  served  to 
alienate  public  sympathy.  Many  of  the  nonunion  men  who 
had  taken  the  place  of  the  striking  union  men  during  this 
trouble  and  previously  were  Negroes,  who,  with  the  exception 
of  the  bricklayers  and  hod  carriers,  were  practically  unorgan- 
ized in  Chicago.  An  attempt  was  now  made  to  align  them  on 
the  side  of  the  Building  Trades  Council.  The  Chicago  Federa- 
tion of  Labor  issued  an  appeal  on  December  2,  inviting  them 
to  join  the  unions.  While  it  does  not  appear  that  this  invita- 
tion was  acted  upon  by  the  Negroes,  it  certainly  evidenced  a 
more  pacific  policy  on  the  part  of  organized  labor. 

These  measures  were  insufficient,  however,  to  restrain  the 
seceding  unions,  and  in  the  middle  of  December  the  steam 
fitters  withdrew  from  the  Building  Trades  Council. '  After  the 
failure  to  reach  a  settlement  with  the  unions  early  in  August 
several  of  the  master  steam  fitters  had  withdrawn  from  the 
Contractors  Council  and  signed  three-year  agreements  similar 
to  the  old  ones.  The  principal  demand  of  the  contractors  - 
that  the  unions  should  withdraw  from  the  Building  Trades 
Council  —  was  not  insisted  on,  but  the  agreement  provided 
that  there  should  be 'no  limitation  as  to  the  amount  of  work 
that  might  be  done  in  a  day,  and  that  no  strike  should  be 
called  until  the  grievance  had  been  submitted  to  a  permanent 
board  of  arbitration.  The  threatened  break  from  the  Con- 
tractors Council  did  not  become  general,  however,  and  things 
remained  quiet  in  this  trade  until  December.  Negotiations 
were  then  begun  between  representatives  of  the  Master  Steam 
Fitters'  Association  and  those  of  the  Journeymen  Steam  Fitters' 
and  the  Junior  Steam  Fitters'  unions,  which  resulted  in  the 
signing  of  a  three-year  agreement  between  the  organizations 
of  employers  and  men.  The  conditions  were  substantially  the 


132         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

same  as  those  of  the  uniform  agreement  signed  by  the  other 
unions.1  Withdrawal  from  the  Building  Trades  Council  and 
the  establishment  of  a  joint  arbitration  board  were  the  most 
important  features.  The  eight  cardinal  points  of  the  contract- 
ors were  conceded  and  they  were  given  greater  liberty  in  the 
employment  of  helpers.  The  men  got  the  Saturday  half  holi- 
day, double  time  for  all  overtime,  and  some  other  demands. 
The  wage  scale  remained  unchanged.  Permission  was  given  to 
the  unions  to  join  another  central  trade  body,  provided  only  it 
was  composed  of  mechanics  whose  trades  were  closely  allied. 
In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  this  agreement  the  Journey- 
men's and  Junior  Steam  Fitters'  unions  withdrew  on  December 
14  from  the  Building  Trades  Council. 

A  few  days  later,  on  December  18,  a  three-year  agreement 
was  concluded  between  the  Master  Plumbers  Association  and 
the  Gas  Fitters'  Union,  embodying  the  general  features  of  the 
agreement  signed  by  the  steam  fitters.  It  was  reached  only 
after  considerable  friction  over  the  clause  concerning  the 
employment  of  nonunion  men.  The  question  was  settled 
through  a  sort  of  compromise,  by  which  it  was  provided  that 
while  the  bosses  should  have  the  right  to  hire  whom  they 
pleased  and  the  men  to  work  for  whom  they  pleased  the  latter 
were  also  given  the  right  to  cease  work  when  they  chose,  the 
latter  contingency  doubtless  having  reference  to  the  employ- 
ment of  nonunion  men.  Another  significant  clause  in  the 
agreement  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Master  Plumbers'  Asso- 
ciation should  notify  the  union  when  any  member  of  the  asso- 
ciation lapsed  from  membership.  It  seemed  to  point  clearly  to 
a  tacit  understanding  that  the  members  of  the  union  were  not 
to  work  for  any  master  plumber  who  was  not  a  member  of  the 
association.  No  mention  was  made  of  a  new  central  body  such 
as  was  referred  to  in  the  agreements  of  the  carpenters,  iron 
workers,  and  steam  fitters.  In  other  respects  it  followed  the 
lines  of  the  uniform  agreement. 

1  The  details  of  the  agreement  may  be  found  in  "  The  Chicago  Steam  Fitters' 
Settlement,"  in  The  Metal  Worker  (New  York  and  Chicago),  December  22,  1900, 
p.  36. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        133 

The  new  year  saw  no  interruption  in  the  disintegration  of 
the  Building  Trades  Council.  Early  in  January  the  plumbers 
withdrew,  and  shortly  thereafter  the  Hod  Carriers  and  Building 
Laborers'  union  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Chicago 
Masons  and  Builders  Association,  by  the  terms  of  which  they 
also  withdrew  from  the  central  body.  As  this  was  next  to  the 
carpenters  the  largest  union  in  the  council,  its  action  was  a 
severe  blow.  The  carpenters  only  waited  for  the  semiannual 
election  of  officers  in  the  council  on  January  27  ;  when  the 
result  showed  that  no  change  of  policy  was  contemplated  they 
also  severed  their  connection.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end,  and  the  movement  of  secession  was  kept  up  by  the  with- 
drawal of  dissatisfied  members  in  the  unions  of  the  stonecutters, 
the  slate  and  tile  roofers,  and  the  mosaic  tile  layers  and  helpers. 
Every  symptom  points  clearly  to  the  final  disintegration  of  the 
Building  Trades  Council,  though  the  president  of  that  organi- 
zation has  denied  emphatically  that  it  will  dissolve.  The  con- 
stitution provides  that  it  shall  exist  as  long  as  five  trades  desire 
to  retain  the  organization.  While  the  council  may  thus  never 
be  formally  dissolved,  there  is  no  doubt  that  its  usefulness  is 
past  and  that  it  is  practically  moribund.  As  one  of  the  union 
men  himself  expressed  it,  "  The  council  is  about  as  useful  as  a 
dead  horse."  Twelve  months  after  the  beginning  of  the  dispute 
the  membership  of  the  council  had  been  reduced  from  perhaps 
30,000  to  about  one  third  of  that  number.  It  was  said  that 
about  5000  workmen  had  left  the  city  in  search  of  employ- 
ment elsewhere  since  the  beginning  of  the  dispute.  Indeed, 
the  end  might  have  come  sooner,  had  not  both  contractors  and 
unions  tacitly  agreed  during  the  summer  not  to  push  the  matter 
to  a  conclusion  at  that  time. 

The  statistics  of  building  operations  in  Chicago  show  that 
they  had  been  only  temporarily  checked  by  the  labor  troubles 
and  by  July,  1900,  had  resumed  their  normal  activity,  soon 
exceeding  in  volume  those  of  the  previous  year.  The  con- 
tractors pointed  to  this  fact  as  evidence  that  the  strike  had 
failed  and  that  the  men  had  deserted  the  Building  Trades 
Council,  but  the  real  explanation  was  somewhat  different. 


134 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


Both  contractors  and  union  men  were  anxious  to  resume  work, 
but  it  had  to  be  done  under  conditions  that  would  not  indicate 
a  surrender  on  either  side.  In  order  to  quiet  disaffection  and 
permit  the  men  to  provide  for  the  winter,  the  unions  allowed 
their  members  to  work  for  members  of  the  Contractors  Council 
in  violation  of  their  rules.  The  contractors,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  willing  to  accept  workmen  without  inquiring  too  closely 
as  to  whether  they  belonged  to  the  Building  Trades  Council 
or  not,  though  such  an  act  violated  their  mutual  agreement. 
Fearing  lest  such  a  policy  should  disrupt  their  association,  the 
contractors  next  adopted  the  plan  of  requiring  all  workmen  to 
join  the  Industrial  Union,1  which  was  in  favor  with  the  Con- 
tractors Council,  or  to  sign  an  agreement  certifying  that  they 
had  resigned  from  their  union.  To  meet  this  move  the  men 
received  permission  from  their  unions  to  sign  without  detri- 
ment to  their  union  standing.  Accordingly,  a  number  of  the 
union  men,  notably  the  carpenters,  joined  the  Industrials,  or 
signed  resignations  from  their  own  unions  and  secured  work 
on  these  terms.  In  some  cases  the  contractors  were  reported 
to  have  paid  the  initiation  fee  for  the  men  who  joined  the 
Industrial  Union.  There  was  a  tacit  agreement  on  both  sides 
to  resume  work  without  insisting  on  a  formal  surrender  from 
either.  In  the  middle  of  the  summer  it  was  calculated  by  one 
of  the  best-informed  labor  leaders  that  over  half  of  all  the  men 
employed  were  union  men,  that  fully  one  third  of  the  members 
of  the  unions  affiliated  with  the  Building  Trades  Council  were 
employed,  and  that  at  least  three  fourths  of  these  were  getting 
union  wages  from  the  contractors. 

Owing  to  the  number  of  nonunion  men  employed  and  the 
decrease  in  the  amount  of  building,  there  was  a  distinct  surplus 
of  laborers  as  soon  as  the  union  men  began  to  return  to  work. 
In  recognition  of  this  fact,  several  of  the  unions  abandoned 
their  demands  for  an  increase  in  wages  and  others  adopted 
temporarily  a  lower  wage  scale.  There  seemed  to  be  imminent 
danger  that  the  unions  would  lose  all  the  gains  of  years  in  this 
struggle  of  the  Building  Trades  Council. 

1  An  organization  composed  of  nonunion  men. 


THE  CHICAGO  BUILDING  TRADES  DISPUTE        135 

XL    CONCLUSION 

This  recital  of  the  progress  of  the  building  trades  dispute 
has  made  clear  the  fact  that  the  sense  of  responsibility  in  their 
position  as  trustees  has  not  controlled  the  leaders  of  the  Build- 
ing Trades  Council.  Organized  ostensibly  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  labor,  it  had  subordinated  these  to  the  cause  of  a  political 
machine  in  whose  service  it  had  attempted  to  use  the  organi- 
zation. In  its  dealings  with  contractors  the  Building  Trades 
Council  had  become  arrogant  and  arbitrary.  Assuming  that  it 
had  unlimited  power,  it  had  pushed  its  demands  to  such  a  point 
that  the  employers  were  goaded  to  resistance  in  self-defense. 
If  any  single  lesson  is  to  be  drawn  from  this  dispute,  it  is  the 
necessity  for  wise  and  unselfish  leadership  of  organized  labor. 

But  while  condemning  the  one  side  we  cannot  hold  the  other 
free  from  blame.  There  were  hot-headed  men  in  the  lead  on 
both  sides.  After  the  dispute  had  continued  for  some  time  suc- 
cess became  a  personal  matter.  Many  of  the  contractors  had 
expressed  themselves  so  decidedly  that  they  were  unwilling  to 
concede  a  single  point ;  they  had  staked  their  personal  repu- 
tation, as  it  were,  on  the  outcome  and  would  accept  nothing  less 
than  the  complete  submission  of  the  Building  Trades  Council. 
In  justice  to  the  Contractors  Council,  it  should  be  said  that  there 
were  many  members  in  their  association,  as  there  were  in  the 
unions,  who  would  have  been  glad  of  an  honorable  compro- 
mise at  any  period  of  the  dispute.  The  attitude  of  the  Con- 
tractors Council  in  demanding  the  dissolution  of  the  Building 
Trades  Council  while  refusing  to  disband  themselves  must  be 
recognized  as  inconsistent,  to  say  the  least.  They  later  receded 
from  this  extreme  position,  when  in  the  agreements  signed  with 
some  of  the  unions  provision  was  made  for  the  organization  of 
a  new  central  body.  It  now  seems  clear  that  the  dispute  might 
have  been  settled  by  mutual  agreement,  had  the  leaders  on 
both  sides  been  less  uncompromising. 

******** 

On  April  26  the  Building  Trades  Council  voted  to  disband, 
the  motion  being  opposed  by  only  the  paper  hangers  and  the 


136         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

boiler  makers.  A  few  days  later  a  new  organization,  under  the 
name  of  the  Chicago  Building  Trades  League,  was  formed  by 
fifteen  of  the  eighteen  strong  trades  in  the  building  industry, 
representing  15,000  workmen.  The  membership  is  restricted 
to  trades  engaged  in  the  actual  construction  of  buildings,  and 
thus  fifteen  of  the  trades  that  were  affiliated  with  the  former 
organization  are  made  ineligible.  There  are  to  be  no  sym- 
pathetic strikes ;  differences  are  to  be  settled  by  arbitration ; 
no  person  holding  political  office  is  eligible  as  a  delegate;  and 
unity  of  the  trades  is  to  be  fostered.  This  new  central  body 
was  perfected  entirely  through  the  efforts  of  local  labor  men 
who  opposed  the  policies  of  the  old  council  and  desired  to  live 
up  to  the  agreements  recently  made  with  the  contractors.  The 
outcome  of  the  year-long  dispute  must  be  regarded,  therefore, 
not  merely  as  a  victory  for  the  contractors  but  also  as  a  victory 
for  the  better  element  in  the  trades  unions,  signifying  the  sub- 
stitution of  conciliatory  methods  of  settling  disputes  for  those 

of  bluster  and  threat.  _  T     T> 

ERNEST  L.  BOGART. 


VI 

THE  INCORPORATION   OF  TRADE  UNIONS1 

[The  legal  character  and  responsibility  of  a  labor  union  are  discussed  from 
different  points  of  view  in  the  following  selections  from  a  symposium  of  replies 
to  an  inquiry  submitted  by  the  secretary  of  the  National  Civic  Federation.  The 
question  asked  was  whether  unions  should  seek  to  become  incorporated.  —  ED.] 

Don  C.  Seitz,  Member  of  the  American  Newspaper  Publish- 
ers' Association  and  Business  Manager  of  the  New  York 
World: 

When  an  employer  recognizes  a  labor  union  he  ceases  to  recog- 
nize the  individual.  The  latter  has  no  place  in  the  economy  of  his 
establishment.  He  must  deal  with  the  concrete  idea  represented  by 
unionism  and  forsake  the  theory  that  he  can  handle  the  individual 
as  such.  This  we  have  done,  and  the  results,  I  think,  are  satisfac- 
tory, so  far  as  anything  that  interferes  with  liberty  of  action  and 
freedom  of  purpose  can  be  satisfactory.  When,  however,  we  do  get 
ourselves  into  this  attitude  we  certainly  increase  the  responsibility 
of  the  union  and  expect  this  responsibility  to  be  met. 

Coercive  as  most  unions  are,  they  naturally  cannot  learn  to 
respect  the  rights  of  employers  or  men  who  will  not  affiliate  with 
them.  I  think  there  is  now  less  tyranny  in  the  printing  trade  than 
formerly,  and  we  have  the  insurance  of  our  admirable  arbitration 
agreement.  Certainly,  too,  there  is  more  intelligence  and  a  greater 
appreciation  of  what  is  right  among  most  of  our  employees  than  in 
any  other  grade  of  labor,  and  the  proposition  I  am  about  to  present 
is  not  specific  to  our  own  interests.  I  believe  that  we  shall  have 
constant  and  more  menacing  troubles  unless  the  newspapers,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  arouse  public  sentiment  and  bring  issues  home  to  the 
minds  of  the  people,  shall  insist  that  labor  unions  be  made  legally 
responsible  bodies  by  incorporation.  This  done,  a  vast  deal  of 
trouble  would  disappear.  It  would,  no  doubt,  be  difficult  to  organize 
unions,  because  of  the  responsibilities  involved  by  such  legislation, 

1  From  the  National  Civic  Federation  Monthly  Review,  April,  1903. 

137 


138         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

—  as  men  would  stop  and  do  some  thinking  before  assuming  a  legal 
liability,  —  but  in  the  end  the  unions  that  were  brave  enough  and 
honest  enough  to  comply  with  the  conditions  would  benefit  largely 
by  the  result.  In  short,  legislation  should  be  had  to  provide  for  the 
incorporation  of  the  trade  unions  just  as  we  have  it  for  forming 
other  corporations  or  trusts,  and  self-constituted  bodies  founded  to 
coerce  employers  would  have  no  status  under  the  law  and  would 
become  conspiracies  where  they  failed  to  comply  with  the  require- 
ment to  incorporate. 

You  cannot  properly  establish  the  Merry  Toughs'  Social  Club 
without  incorporating  it.  You  cannot  join  with  a  few  friends  to 
promote  the  simplest  business  enterprise  without  incorporating  it. 
You  cannot  even  establish  a  church  without  going  through  a  legal 
process.  But  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  get  together  a  body  of  work- 
ingmen  who  without  regard  to  your  contracts  or  their  obligations 
take  you  by  the  throat  with  intimidation  and  boycott  without  any 
serious  fear  of  interference  by  law  or  any  collection  of  damages 
from  the  courts. 

Large  sums  of  money  are  raised  by  the  unions  from  individual 
assessments,  but  not  one  cent  of  this  is  reachable  to  recompense 
the  industry  that  bears  the  brunt  of  the  conflict.  When  the  sug- 
gestion is  made  to  the  average  labor  leader  that  such  incorporation 
ought  to  be  enforced,  we  at  once  meet  with  the  answer  that  it  would 
be  fatal  to  their  methods,  which  is  an  open  confession  that  their 
methods  are  ijjegal  and  wrong.  Business  men  incur  millions  of 
responsibility  in  obedience  to  the  law,  while  labor,  much  more 
closely  knit,  is  immune. 

It  is  only  recently  that  in  overburdened  England  the  court  of 
last  resort  ordered  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Railroad  Servants 
to  pay  the  Taff  Vale  Railroad  ^28,000  damages  for  a  strike  and 
boycott.  The  appellate  court  held  that,  incorporated  or  not,  an 
organized  body  could  not  keep  itself  outside  the  law,  and  that  it 
must  be  held  .pecuniarily  responsible  for  its  acts.  /This  decision  of 
f  vast  importance  to  all  concerned  swept  away  the  pleasant  fiction 
that  lawlessness  and  boycott  are  always  to  be  condoned  where  the 
"  workingman  "  is  trying  to  "  elevate  "  himself./  In  short,  in  Eng- 
land the  worm  has  turned  and  hereafter  the  unions  will  be  forced 
to  meet  the  responsibility  they  incur,  just  as  the  railroad  does  when 
it  wrecks  a  train  and  kills  or  injures  its  passengers.  The  playful 
incendiaries,  the  murderous  boycotters,  and  the  delightful  dyna- 
miters may  escape  as  individuals,  but  the  union  which  precipitated 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         139 

the  conflict  which  brought  this  all  about  must  settle.  This  is  what 
we  must  come  to  here,  if  there  is  to  be  any  human  right  or  human 
liberty  left  in  the  land/ 

The  argument  in  tavor  of  incorporating  is  a  simple  one.  A  cer- 
tain number  of  carpenters  desire  to  get  together  for  the  betterment 
of  their  condition.  They  must  raise  a  fund,  elect  officers.  They 
must  have  a  concrete  existence,  if  they  would  incorporate  as  a  busi- 
ness body.  This  would  be  the  situation  :  When  an  employer  called 
upon  the  guild,  as  it  would  best  be  named,  the  condition  of  employ- 
ment could  be  made  plain  :  the  responsibility  of  taking  the  work 
would  be  incurred  and  the  duty  of  performing  it  would  be  enforced. 
Can  there  be  any  honest  objection  to  this  practice  ?  We  have  now 
in  this  city  the  most  chaotic  conditions.  Men  drop  out  every  day 
at  will  in  the  building  trades  and  great  losses  are  incurred  by  the 
contractor  and  owner ;  the  situation  is  fast  becoming  intolerable. 

Judge  Parker,  in  a  recent  decision,  holds  that  the  laborer  has  the 
right  to  do  as  he  pleases  about  working  or  not  working.  This  is 
incontestably  true,  yet  I  should  say  that  when  the  laborer  had 
agreed  to  perform  a  certain  task  for  a  certain  price  there  should  be 
some  method  of  making  him  keep  his  agreement.  The  employer  is 
responsible  for  wages,  and  if  he  has  agreed  to  hire  a  man  for  a  year 
and  uses  him  only  one  day,  the  law  makes  him  pay  for  the  whole 
period.  But  the  plasterer  can  throw  down  his  trowel  and  quit  in 
the  middle  of  his  employment  because  he  dislikes  the  expression  on 
his  foreman's  face.  If,  however,  we  had  an  incorporated  union  of 
plasterers  instead  of  a  guerrilla  one,  the  union  would  have  to  come 
forward  and  complete  the  task. 

J.  W.  Sullivan,  Typographical  Union,  New  York : 

A  union  has  ways  of  its  own  in  conducting  the  affairs  that  relate 
mainly  to  itself  and  its  membership.  It  is  a  big  self-governing  fam- 
ily. In  periods  of  strike  the  prescribed  order  of  written  constitu- 
tion or  by-law  sometimes  proves  less  desirable  than  the  short  cut 
obvious  as  a  war  measure.  The  members  then  become  aware  that 
in  drawing  up  their  laws  they  were  unable  to  foresee  the  situation 
confronting  them,  and  they  may,  for  example,  unconstitutionally 
confide  absolute  power  temporarily  in  an  officer  or  a  committee. 
In  times  of  peace  a  union  often  reaches  conclusions  and  interpreta- 
tions dictated  by  the  common  sense  of  a  meeting  rather  than  by 
the  statutes  as  written,  leaving  the  majority  either  satisfied  or  in  a 


140         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

mood  to  accept  the  judgment  for  better  or  worse.  Such  proceed- 
ings may  relate  to  trials  of  members,  to  executive  session  work,  to 
appropriation  of  funds,  to  informalities  or  irregularities  in  elec- 
tions or  referendum  votes,  to  the  opening  or  closing  of  books  for 
inspection,  to  the  reading  or  silencing  of  reports,  to  appointing  or 
dismissing  committees,  to  maintaining  discipline,  to  accepting  or 
rejecting  candidates  for  membership,  to  suspending  or  expelling 
or  reinstating  members,  to  passing  judgment  on  aggressions  of 
employers  tending  to  end  in  strike,  to  investigating  the  conduct  of 
members  prejudicial  to  the  organization,  and  to  settling  questions 
in  which  rule  or  precedent  or  necessity  of  the  local  union  conflicts 
with  international  union  law.  In  all  such  proceedings  two  princi- 
ples usually  govern,  —  self-preservation  of  the  union  and  good  fel- 
lowship. A  popular  employer,  in  general  fair,  who  in  a  fit  of  temper 
has  willfully  violated  a  clause  in  a  contract  or  the  union  scale,  will 
be  adjudged  innocent.  A  sound  and  active  union  man  who  has 
misappropriated  a  small  sum  will  be  found  not  guilty  and  given 
time  to  refund.  In  these  matters  an  unincorporated  union  is  in  the 
main  a  law  unto  itself.  It  is  free.  It  may  make  many  changes  in 
its  internal  methods  and  in  administration  without  lessening  its 
responsibility  as  a  contracting  party. 

But  an  incorporated  union  would  in  all  these  steps  be  subject  to 
much  revision  and  correction  through  the  agencies  of  the  law.  Work 
here  for  judges,  lawyers,  and  enemies.  The  incorporated  body,  as 
a  creature  of  the  state,  must  be  kept  in  health  by  the  state.  Dis- 
turbers, instigated  by  influences  inimical  to  a  union,  might  kindly 
aid  the  state.  In  incorporating,  a  union  would  have  admitted  non- 
kinsfolk  as  masters  at  the  family  table  —  the  judge,  of  another  blood, 
come  to  set  things  right ;  the  sheriff,  with  keys  to  a  jail  and  a  money 
sack  for  fines ;  the  policeman,  with  a  club  and  handcuffs. 

These  officials  now  occasionally  regulate  family  affairs  in  the 
unions,  but  the  courts,  only  acting  when  called  upon,  refuse  to  inter- 
fere if  the  union's  proceedings  are  in  accordance  with  its  own  rules, 
which  are  subject  to  change  at  the  will  of  the  majority.  But  if 
these  rules  depended  for  regularity  upon  the  terms  of  incorporation, 
and  if  informers  were  sent  into  the  unions  to  report  infractions, 
the  sins  of  unions  would  be  multiplied  and  the  lawsuits  ensuing 
would  work  pleasure  to  scabs.  The  knowing  are  fully  conscious  of 
what  they  are  saying  when  they  express  a  desire  for  an  increase  of 
the  authority  of  the  law  over  trade  unions.  They  would  wreck  them 
from  within. 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         141 
John  Frankenheimer,  Counselor  at  Law,  New  York : 

The  question,  Should  trade  unions  be  incorporated  ?  will  be  found, 
in  its  final  analysis,  to  be  predicated  upon  the  question,  Do  you 
believe  in  trade  unions  ?  For  those  who  believe  in  trade  unions 
will  answer  your  question  quite  differently  from  those  who  oppose 
this  established  form  of  labor  organization.  As  a  believer  in  trade 
unionism,  I  shall  answer  your  question  from  the  trade-union  stand- 
point. There  is  no  blinking  the  fact  that  the  struggle  between  cap- 
ital and  labor  has  many  of  the  features  of  an  internecine  warfare. 
The  forces  on  each  side  are  becoming  daily  more  disciplined  and 
consolidated, — the  trust  on  one  side,  the  federated  trade  unions  on 
the  other.  In  a  struggle  of  this  kind  discipline  will  count.  What- 
ever will  weaken  the  disciplinary  control  of  a  trade  union  over  its 
members  will  necessarily  weaken  the  trade  union  in  its  contest  with 
organized  capital.  It  is  because  incorporation  of  a  trade  union  will 
deprive  it  of  much  of  the  power  it  now  possesses  over  its  members 
and  the  management  of  its  internal  affairs  that  the  chief  legal 
objection  to  incorporation  seems  to  lie  from  the  trade-union  stand- 
point. It  is  well  settled  that  a  voluntary  unincorporated  associa- 
tion, such  as  a  trade  union,  club,  or  stock  exchange,  has  a  much 
greater  power  not  only  over  the  admission  but  also  over  the  expul- 
sion of  its  members  than  an  incorporated  association.  Membership 
in  an  incorporation  is  a  statutory  right  in  the  nature  of  a  franchise, 
which  can  neither  be  withheld  nor  taken  away  by  the  act  of  the 
corporation  unless  the  power  to  do  so  be  given  by  the  charter.  On 
the  other  hand,  membership  in  a  voluntary  association  is  derived 
exclusively  from  the  body  that  bestows  it  and  may  be  conferred  or 
withheld  at  its  pleasure.  A  person  acquires  by  his  admission  to 
membership  in  a  voluntary  association  only  such  rights  as  the  con- 
stitution and  by-laws  of  the  association  give  him.  He  may  be  sus- 
pended or  expelled  according  to  the  rules  of  the  association,  and 
if  the  proceedings  are  regular  and  the  investigation  a  fair  one  the 
decision  of  the  association  cannot  be  reviewed  on  its  merits  by 
the  courts.  As  was  said  recently  in  a  stock  exchange  suit,  volun- 
tary associations  are  themselves  the  exclusive  judges  of  their 
mode  and  manner  of  proceeding  in  the  suspension  or  expulsion  of 
a  member. 

It  has  repeatedly  been  said  by  the  courts  that  their  power  over 
voluntary  associations  was  not  as  great  as  it  is  over  corporations ; 
that  the  constitution  of  voluntary  associations  is  the  contract 


142         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

between  the  parties,  and  that  if  its  provisions  are  not  illegal, 
immoral,  or  contrary  to  public  policy,  it  must  be  upheld,  whether 
reasonable  or  not;  and  that  this  is  one  of  the  main  distinctions 
between  a  voluntary  association  and  a  corporation. 

It  is  undoubtedly  because  of  this  greater  disciplinary  power  of  a 
voluntary  association  over  its  members  that  the  most  successful 
trade  union  in  this  country,  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  has 
refused  to  be  incorporated.  Members  of  this  association  will  admit 
that  the  maintenance  of  the  standard  rate  of  commissions  and  of 
the  established  rules  of  the  trade  are  due  to  the  untrammeled  power 
of  suspension  and  expulsion  vested  in  the  governing  committee 
of  the  exchange.  Members  have  been  suspended  or  expelled  for 
"splitting"  commissions,  "bucketing"  orders,  "fraudulent"  sales, 
and  other  acts  deemed  detrimental  to  the  best  trade  interests  of 
the  association,  and  although  frequent  appeals  have  been  made  to 
the  courts  in  such  cases,  the  invariable  answer  has  been  that  the 
court  cannot  interfere  if  the  proceedings  are  regular.  It  stands  to 
reason  that  a  powerful  and  wealthy  trade  organization,  such  as 
the  Stock  Exchange,  which  commands  the  best  legal  talent,  would 
not  persist  in  remaining  an.  unincorporated  association  unless  it 
derived  great  advantage  therefrom. 

The  fundamental  advantages  of  an  unincorporated  association 
over  a  corporation  are  the  greater  power  the  former  possesses  over 
its  members  and  over  the  management  of  its  internal  affairs  and 
its  greater  freedom  from  interference  by  the  courts  in  these  matters. 

I  take  it  that  from  the  trade-union  standpoint  the  object  desired 
is  untrammeled  disciplinary  power  over  its  members  and  freedom 
from  interference  in  its  internal  affairs  by  the  courts.  This  can 
undoubtedly  be  attained  more  completely  in  the  form  of  a  volun- 
tary association  than  in  that  of  a  corporation,  and  for  this  reason, 
if  for  no  other,  trade  unions  should  oppose  incorporation. 

Were  a  trade  union  to  be  incorporated,  every  member  who  may 
have  been  disciplined,  suspended,  or  expelled  would  appeal  to 
the  courts  for  redress,  and  the  organization  would  be  constantly 
embroiled  in  litigation  of  this  kind.  Moreover,  sinister  influences 
might  be  brought  to  bear  upon  a  sufficiently  strong  minority  to 
justify  interference  by  the  courts  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  asso- 
ciation, if  incorporated,  which  would  not  be  justified,  however  strong 
the  minority,  if  the  association  were  a  voluntary  one. 

As  to  the  legal  liability  of  a  trade  union  for  the  authorized  acts 
of  its  members  or  officers,  there  is  no  difference  in  this  respect, 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         143 

under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  New  York,  between  a  voluntary  asso- 
ciation and  a  corporation.  The  former  can  sue  and  be  sued  as  well 
as  the  latter. 

In  my  opinion,  considering  the  whole  question  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  labor  unions,  —  and  this  is  the  only  practical  point  of 
view  to  take  of  the  question, — incorporation  of  trade  unions  is 
inexpedient.  It  will  weaken  the  power  of  the  association  over  its 
members  and  over  its  management  of  its  internal  affairs  and  will 
increase  greatly  the  power  of  the  courts  over  the  association  in  all 
its  affairs.  Let  the  trade  unions  follow  the  example  of  the  New 
York  Stock  Exchange  —  which  is  essentially  a  trade  union  and  a 
very  successful  one  —  and  persist  in  maintaining  their  present  vol- 
untary and  unincorporated  organization. 

Levy  Mayer,  General   Counsel   Illinois   Manufacturers'  Asso- 
ciation : 

A  corporation  exists  as  such  only  by  virtue  of  a  grant  from  the 
state  and  the  acceptance  of  such  grant  by  the  persons  composing 
the  corporation.  No  one  can  be  compelled  to  accept  such  a  grant, 
nor  to  become  a  member  of  the  corporation  against  his  will.  To 
compel  labor  unions  to  incorporate  is  to  compel  individuals  com- 
posing the  union  to  become  members  of  a  corporation  and  to 
assume  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  that  relation  without 
their  consent,  or  to  prohibit  such  members  from  voluntarily  asso- 
ciating themselves  together  for  a  lawful  purpose.  It  is  not  within 
the  province  of  the  legislature  to  say  to  a  person:  "You  cannot 
join  a  union  unless  that  union  is  incorporated."  That  would  be 
equivalent  to  saying  that  a  person  desiring  to  become  a  member 
of  a  labor  union  has  to  become  a  member  of  the  corporation  or 
cease  to  be  a  "  union  "  laborer.  Such  persons  would  thus  fre  pre- 
vented from  pursuing  a  lawful  purpose  and  would  be  deprived  of  a 
right  to  assemble  for  a  purpose  not  in  violation  of  law.  The  pro- 
posed law  would  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  the  citizen,  the  right 
of  lawful  assembly,  and  the  freedom  of  contract.  This  view  is 
supported  by  authorities.  Chancellor  Kent,  in  his  Commentaries 
(Vol.  II,  p.  277),  says: 

"It  requires  the  acceptance  of  a  charter  to  create  a  corporate 
body,  for  the  government  cannot  compel  persons  to  become  an 
incorporated  body  without  their  consent  or  the  consent  of  at  least 
a  major  part  of  them." 


144         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

In  Mason  v.  Finch,  28  Mich.  282,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Michigan 
laid  down  the  law  as  follows : 

"  It  would  not  be  competent  for  the  legislature  ...  to  compel 
any  person  or  society  to  become  incorporated  without  its  consent." 

In  Hampshire  v.  Franklin,  16  Mass.  76,  87,  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Massachusetts  said : 

"  No  man  can  be  compelled  by  the  legislature  to  become  a  mem- 
ber of  a  corporation  without  his  consent." 

See  also  Angell  &  Ames  on  Corporations  (eleventh  edition), 
Sections  31,  81,  86. 

Again,  the  proposed  law,  if  applicable  only  to  labor  unions  and 
not  to  all  other  unincorporated  associations  similarly  situated, 
would  probably  violate  the  constitutional  inhibition  against  "  class 
legislation."  There  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  a  labor  union  which 
requires  special  regulation  which  does  not  equally  apply  to  other 
unincorporated  associations.  The  members  of  a  labor  union  are 
joined  together  in  furtherance  of  a  common  enterprise,  in  which 
the  public  at  large  is  not  directly  interested  or  concerned.  If  the 
public  is  affected,  it  is  only  indirectly.  Such  union,  therefore,  is 
not  a  public  association  in.  the  same  sense  that  it  is  subject  to 
public  regulation  and  control. 

I  have  heretofore,  on  April  12,  1902,  given  an  opinion  to  the 
association  that  the  members  of  a  labor  union  are  legally  respon- 
sible for  damages  caused  by  an  illegal  boycott.  The  compulsory 
incorporation  of  a  labor  union  would  not  make  the  members  of 
the  association  any  more  responsible  than  they  are  at  present, 
except  in  so  far  as  the  corporation  might  possess  property.  The 
creation  of  a  corporation  not  for  pecuniary  profit  does  not  and  would 
not  ordinarily  create  any  more  financial  responsibility  than  now  exists 
on  the  part  of  individuals  who  would  constitute  the  corporation. 

For  the  reasons  above  stated  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  pro- 
posed law,  if  enacted,  would  be  unconstitutional.  Even  if  the  law 
were  constitutional,  I  do  not  believe  it  would  accomplish  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  would  be  designed.  If  a  law  could  be  devised  to 
compel  the  formation  of  such  corporations,  it  would  soon  be  dis- 
covered that  such  corporations  could  readily  avoid  accumulating  or 
possessing  any  property. 

Frederick  H.  Cooke,  Author  of  "Trade  and  Labor  Combina- 
tions," Attorney  at  Law,  New  York  : 

The  importance  of  the  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  Tajf 
Vale  Railway  Company  v.  Amalgamated  Society  of  Railway  Servants, 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         145 

L.  R.  App.  Cas.  426  (1901),  resulting  in  a  recovery  for  a  large 
amount  of  damages  against  the  defendant  trade  union,  has,  in  my 
opinion,  been  much  exaggerated.  That  an  association  of  this  char- 
acter should  be  mulcted  in  so  large  an  amount  is,  to  say  the  least, 
unusual  and  may  be  a  sociological  fact  of  interest  and  importance. 
But  from  a  strictly  legal  standpoint  the  decision  is  comparatively 
insignificant.  The  doctrines  applied  are  trite,  and  it  was  simply  a 
narrow  question  of  statutory  construction  that  was  really  involved. 

The  effect  of  the  decision  was  that  the  defendant  trade  union 
was  liable  in  an  action  for  damages,  that  is,  in  tort,  for  unlawful 
acts  of  its  agents  in  the  course  of  the  management  of  a  strike. 

Before  considering  the  precise  ground  of  such  decision,  let  us 
consider  the  general  principles  applicable  in  determining  the  liabil- 
ity of  a  trade  union  or  its  officers,  members,  or  agents  for  such  acts. 

In  the  absence  of  statutory  provision  a  trade  union  is  nothing 
but  a  number  of  persons  associated  for  a  particular  purpose.  As  in 
the  case  of  such  associations  generally  (frequently  termed  voluntary 
associations),  the  law  ignores  the  circumstance  of  association  in 
determining  liability  for  unlawful  acts  of  members  of  the  associa- 
tion. That  is  to  say,  if  the  members  of  a  trade  union,  whether 
acting  singly  or  in  combination,  assault  a  person  or  trespass  upon 
his  property,  or  otherwise  injure  him,  it  is  merely  as  individuals 
that  they  can  be  held  liable.  For  instances  of  members  being  thus 
held  liable,  injunctions  being  allowed,  see  Hopkins  v.  Oxley  Stave 
Company,  83  Fed.  912,  49  U.S.  App.  709  (8th  Cir.,  1897);  Cum- 
berland Glass  Manufacturing  Company  v.  Glass  Bottle  Blowers' 
Association,  59  N.  J.  Eq.  49,  46  Atl.  208  (1899);  Reinecke  Coal  Min- 
ing Company  v.  Wood,  112  Fed.  477  (Cir.  Ct.  Ky.,  1901);  Sherry 
v.  Perkins,  147  Mass.  212,  17  N.  E.  307  (1888)  ;  Murdoch  v.  Walker, 
152  Pa.  St.  595,  25  Atl.  492  (1893);  Wick  China  Company  v. 
Brown,  164  Pa.  St.  449,  30  Atl.  261  (1894).  So  in  actions  for 
damages :  Temperton  v.  Russell,  i  L.  R.  Q.  B.  715  (1893)  ;  Quinn  v. 
Leathern,  L.  R.  App.  Cas.  495  (1901).  See  also  Thomas  v.  Cincinnati, 
N.  O.  6-  T.  P.  Ry.  Company,  62  Fed.  803  (Cir.  Ct.  Ohio,  1894); 
Brace  v.  Evans,  3  Ry.  &  Corp.  L.  J.  561  (1888)  ;  Carew  v.  Ruther- 
ford, 1 06  Mass,  i  (1870).  That,  however,  the  trade  union  itself  is 
not  liable  in  such  a  case,  see  American  Steel  6-  Wire  Company  v. 
Wire  Drawers'  Union,  90  Fed.  598  (Cir.  Ct.  Ohio,  1898);  Plant 
v.  Woods,  176  Mass.  492,  57  N.  E.  ion  (1900);  22  Encyclopaedia 
of  Pleading  and  Practice,  p.  242. 

In  some  instances,  indeed,  an  unincorporated  trade  union  seems 
to  have  been  assumed  to  be  liable  in  the  absence  of  statutory 


1 46         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

provision,  but  this  assumption  doubtless  resulted  from  inadvertence. 
See,  for  instance,  Consolidated  Steel  &>  Wire  Company  v.  Murray, 
80  Fed.  811  (Cir.  Ct.  Ohio,  1897).  And  the  following  are  instances 
of  trade  unions  being  held  liable,  in  some  of  which,  at  least,  such 
unions  were,  so  far  as  appears,  unincorporated :  Thus,  in  allowing 
injunctions,  Coeur  d'Alene  Consolidated  6°  Mining  Company  v. 
Miners'*  Union,  51  Fed.  260  (Cir.  Ct.  Idaho,  1892);  American  Steel 
&*  Wire  Company  v.  Wire  Drawer?  Union,  90  Fed.  608  (Cir. 
Ct.  Ohio,  1898)  ;  Otis  Steel  Company  v.  Local  Union  No.  218,  no 
Fed.  698  (Cir.  Ct.  Ohio,  1901);  Southern  Railway  Company  v. 
Machinists'  Local  Union,  in  Fed.  49  (Cir.  Ct.  Tenn.,  1901);  Allis 
Chalmers  Company  v.  Reliable  Lodge,  in  Fed.  264  (Cir.  Ct.  111., 
1901);  Vegelahn  v.  Guntner,  167  Mass.  92,  44  N.  E.  1077  (1896). 
So  in  an  action  for  damages,  Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company  v. 
McKenna,  30  Fed.  48  (Cir.  Ct.  N.  Y.,  1887). 

But  the  liability  of  the  union  in  such  a  case  is  sometimes  created 
by  statute.  Thus,  in  the  state  of  New  York,  by  provisions  substan- 
tially in  force  since  1851,  "an  unincorporated  association,  consist- 
ing of  seven  or  more  persons,"  may  be  sued  in  the  name  of  its 
president  or  treasurer,  and  a  judgment  against  it  binds  its  property. 
Code  Civ.  Pro.,  Sections  1919  and  1921.  The  action,  though  in 
form  against  such  officer,  is  in  substance  and  reality  against  the 
association.  Mason  v.  Holmes,  30  Misc.  719,  64  N.  Y.  Suppl.  596 
(1900).  These  provisions  unquestionably  apply  to  a  trade  union. 
Indeed,  by  virtue  thereof,  in  Curran  v.  Galen,  152  N.  Y.  33, 
affirming  2  Misc.  553,  22  N.  Y.  Suppl.  826  (1892),  an  action  for  dam- 
ages was  held  to  lie  against  an  unincorporated  trade  union  for  acts 
resulting  in  taking  away  the  plaintiff's  means  of  earning  a  liveli- 
hood and  preventing  him  from  obtaining  employment.  Why,  then, 
attach  so  much  importance  to  the  decision  in  the  Taff  Vale  Rail- 
way Company  case,  when  we  have  a  decision  at  home  that  covers 
the  ground  thereof  ?  For  other  instances  of  unincorporated  trade 
unions  held  liable  by  virtue  of  such  provisions,  see  Connellv.  Stalker, 
20  Misc.  423,  45  N.  Y.  Suppl.  1048,  21  Misc.  609,  48  N.  Y.  Suppl. 
77  (1897);  Coons  v.  Chrystie,  24  Misc.  296,  53  N.  Y.  Suppl.  668 
(1898);  Matthews  v.  Shankland,  25  Misc.  604,  56  N.  Y.  Suppl.  123 
(1898);  Beattie  v.  Callanan,  67  N.  Y.  App.  D.  14,  73  N.  Y.  Suppl. 
518  (1901).  See  also  Van  Aernam  v.  Bleistein,  102  N.  Y.  355  (1886); 
Rourke  v.  Elk  Drug  Company,  75  N.  Y.  App.  D.  145,  77  N.  Y.  Suppl. 
373  (J902);  Hanke  v.  Cigarmakers'  Internatiotial  Union,  27  Misc. 
529,  58  N.  Y.  Suppl.  412  (1899). 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         147 

Similar  statutory  provisions  exist  in  other  states;  thus,  Connect- 
icut (General  Statutes,  Sec.  588),  Michigan  (3  Compiled  Laws, 
Sec.  10,025),  New  Jersey  (2  General  Statutes,  2588).  See  Beck  v. 
Railway  Teamsters'  Protective  Union,  118  Mich.  497,  77  N.  W.  13 
(1898);  Mayer  v.  Stonecutters'  Association,  47  N.  J.  Eq.  519,  20 
Atl.  492  (1890);  Barr  v.  Essex  Trades  Council  53  N.  J.  Eq.  101,  30 
Atl.  88 1  (1894). 

I  have  already  said  that  in  the  Taff  Vale  Railway  Company  case 
it  was  simply  a  narrow  question  of  statutory  construction  that  was 
involved.  That  is  to  say,  an  unincorporated  trade  union  was  held 
liable  in  an  action  for  damages,  notwithstanding  the  absence  of 
any  statutory  provision  expressly  making  it  thus  liable,  such  liability 
being,  however,  regarded  as  inferentially  created  by  other  provi- 
sions, particularly  those  enabling  it  to  hold  property  and  act  by 
agents.  The  liability  there  regarded  as  inferentially  created  is,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  expressly  created  by  statutes  in  New  York  and 
other  states.  I  repeat,  then,  that  from  a  strictly  legal  standpoint 
the  decision  is  comparatively  insignificant. 

By  act  of  Congress,  1886,  chapter  567,  as  well  as  by  statutes 
in  a  number  of  states,  provision  is  made  for  the  incorporation  of 
trade  unions.  The  following  provisions  applicable  to  a  trade  union 
created  by  act  of  Congress  are  typical  of  provisions  applicable  to 
corporations  generally.  It  has  the  right  "  to  sue  and  be  sued,  to 
implead  and  be  impleaded,  to  grant  and  receive  in  its  corporate  or 
technical  name  property,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  and  to  use  said 
property,  and  the  proceeds  and  income  thereof,  for  the  objects  of 
said  corporation."  It  may  be  added  that  its  liability  to  be  sued 
involves  subjection  of  its  property  to  a  judgment  obtained  against 
it.  Such  a  union  would  also  be  subject  to  various  statutory  pro- 
visions, differing  in  detail  according  to  the  locality.  By  way  of 
illustration  merely,  the  following  provision  of  the  act  of  Congress, 
1898,  chapter  370,  applicable  to  unions  incorporated  under  the  act 
of  1886,  is  here  stated:  "A  member  shall  cease  to  be  such  by 
participating  in  or  by  instigating  force  or  violence  against  persons 
or  property  during  strikes,  lockouts,  or  boycotts,  or  by  seeking 
to  prevent  others  from  working,  through  violence,  threats,  or  intim- 
idations. Members  of  such  incorporations  shall  not  be  personally 
liable  for  the  acts,  debts,  or  obligations  of  the  corporations,  nor  shall 
such  corporations  be  liable  for  the  acts  of  members  or  others  in 
violation  of  law."  Under  such  a  provision  it  would  hardly  be  held, 
as  in  the  Taff  Vale  Railway  Company  case,  that  a  trade  union  is 


148         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

liable  for  the  unlawful  acts  of  its  agents.  But  for  instances  of  incor- 
porated trade  unions  held  liable  for  the  unlawful  acts  of  their 
agents,  see  Moores  v.  Bricklayers'  Union,  7  Ry.  and  Corp.  L.  J.  108 
(1889)  ;  Casey  v.  Cincinnati  Typographical  Union,  45  Fed.  135  (Cir. 
Ct.  Ohio,  1891);  Lucke  v.  Clothing  Cutters',  etc.,  Assembly,  77  Md. 
396,  26  Atl.  505  (1893). 

In  view  of  what  we  have  seen,  incorporation  of  a  trade  union, 
ordinarily  at  least,  creates  a  responsibility  not  existing  independ- 
ently of  statute,  though  the  extent  of  such  responsibility  may  widely 
vary  according  to  local  statutory  provisions.  But  it  is  clear  that 
wherever  there  exist  provisions  of  the  character  already  considered, 
making  even  an  unincorporated  trade  union  liable  to  be  sued,  incor- 
poration is  not  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  creating  such  respon- 
sibility. 

I  do  not  dwell  here  upon  the  economic  or  sociological  effects  of 
such  creation  of  responsibility,  though  here  is  involved  a  broad  and 
interesting  field  of  inquiry,  including  such  questions  as  whether  the 
existence  of  such  responsibility  will  tend  to  discourage  the  creation 
of  such  unions  or  their  active  intervention  in  strikes  or  boycotts 
instituted  in  the  interest  of  their  members. 

I.  A.  Hourwich,  former  Counsel  to  the  United  Brotherhood  of 
Cloakmakers,  New  York  City  :  J 

I  shall  take  up  the  law  of  the  state  of  New  York,  first,  because 
I  am  more  familiar  with  it  as  far  as  it  bears  on  this  subject ;  and, 
second,  because  it  is  probably  more  liberal  than  the  laws  of  other 
industrial  states. 

First  of  all,  let  us  consider  the  status  of  the  labor  union.  It  may 
be  either  an  unincorporated  association  of  workmen  or  a  corporation. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  under  the  existing  laws  a  trade  union 
has  a  more  unhampered  course  if  it  does  not  incorporate  at  all.  It 
is  then  free  to  choose  any  legitimate  line  of  activity  open  to  an 
individual,  without  coming  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  a 
corporation  law  not  adapted  to  the  special  needs  of  labor  unions. 
There  is  a  Federal  law  for  the  incorporation  of  labor  unions,  but  it 
requires  the  headquarters  to  be  located  in  Washington.  This  pro- 
vision makes  it  inapplicable  to  any  but  the  great  national  bodies, 
An  organization  such  as  the  United  Brotherhood  of  Cloakmakers, 

1  Testimony  before  the  U.  S.  Industrial  Commission.  Reports,  Vol.  XIV,  pp. 
I52-I55- 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         149 

which  has  branches  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  with  a  member- 
ship of  about  15,000,  cannot  incorporate  under  the  Federal  law. 

The  New  York  state  law  of  corporations  divides  them  into  stock 
corporations  and  nonstock  corporations,  the  latter  being  again 
divided  into  membership  corporations  and  religious  corporations. 
Prior  to  the  latest  revision  of  the  corporation  laws,  there  existed  a 
law  for  the  organization  of  cooperative  companies,  that  is,  asso- 
ciations where  the  stockholders  contribute  not  only  their  money 
but  also  and  chiefly  their  labor.  The  name  was  retained  by  the 
revisers,  but  the  law  itself  was  repealed  and  no  other  law  enacted 
to  take  its  place.  How  is  a  labor  organization  to  incorporate  under 
these  laws  ?  If  it  incorporate  as  an  ordinary  membership  corpora- 
tion, it  is  no  more  than  a  mere  social  club.  Its  chief  purpose, 
"  cooperation  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  an  advance  in  the  rate 
of  wages,"  cannot  be  accomplished,  for  it  would  be  beyond  the 
powers  of  a  social  club  and  would  fall  within  the  definition  of  the 
objects  of  a  business  corporation.  To  incorporate  as  a  business 
corporation  is  impracticable.  It  would  impose  upon  the  labor  union 
the  necessity  of  having  a  capital  stock  and  of  increasing  it  from  time 
to  time ;  no  assessments  could  be  levied  for  current  expenses ;  no 
"stockholder"  would  forfeit  his  membership  by  nonpayment  of 
dues ;  no  member  could  be  disciplined ;  stock  could  be  sold  by 
individual  members  to  outsiders  who  do  not  belong  to  the  trade, 
but  may  be  interested  in  having  a  controlling  voice  in  the  councils 
of  the  organization.  In  other  words,  a  labor  union  is  in  its  very 
nature  different  from  a  business  corporation. 

In  1897,  being  elected  counsel  to  the  United  Brotherhood  of 
Cloakmakers,  I  was  confronted  with  this  problem  of  incorporation. 
In  the  absence  of  law  on  the  subject  we  had  to  make  law,  and  we 
accordingly  incorporated  as  a  "cooperative  corporation,"  leaving 
it  to  future  litigation  to  construe  the  powers  of  such  a  corporation. 
We  had  one  case  in  the  New  York  Supreme  Court,  where  the  defense 
of  ultra  vires  was  raised  against  us  and  we  were  sustained  by  the 
court.  Yet  the  decision  in  this  case  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
established  a  precedent,  since  the  opinion  did  not  go  into  a  full 
discussion  of  the  aspects  of  a  "cooperative  corporation,"  nor  wa£> 
it  passed  upon  by  a  higher  court. 

Next  comes  the  question  as  to  the  methods  of  enforcing  $M§J 
labor  contracts.  It  is  a  sad  commentary  on  our  law  that  a  Istfcor 
union  has  practically  no  other  'remedy  than  a  strike  againfi|rs& 
violation  of  the  labor  contract  by  the  employer.  /aivmq 


1 50        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

A  contract  with  an  employer  may  be  made  by  the  union  as  con- 
tracting party,  or  by  the  individual  workmen.  The  latter  method 
has  been  practiced  in  the  tailoring  trades  in  New  York  City.  Aside, 
however,  from  its  unwieldiness,'  none  but  an  utterly  unintelligent 
employer,  such  as  the  average  sweat-shop  "boss,"  would  enter  into 
such  a  contract,  for  it  would  bind  him  to  keep  every  workman  who 
happened  to  be  with  him  at  the  time  the  contract  was  made.  Nor 
does  it  serve  the  ends  of  the  union,  since  it  leaves  the  employer  free 
to  hire  additional  help  not  belonging  to  the  union.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  places  the  individual  member  of  the  union  in  a  position 
where  he  may  override  the  decisions  of  the  majority  of  the  organ- 
ized body,  since  under  the  technical  form  of  the  contract  he  is  the 
party  to  the  same  and  may  modify  its  terms  by  agreement  with  the 
employer. 

The  only  method  that  suggests  itself  is  therefore  a  contract  made 
by  the  union,  as  such,  with  the  employer.  But  when  the  contract  is 
taken  into  court  the  union  can  prove  none  but  nominal  damages. 
Suppose  the  employer  has  declared  a  reduction  of,  say,  10  per  cent 
on  the  agreed  rates  before  the  expiration  of  the  contractual  term 
and  has  locked  out  the  members  of  the  union,  who  insisted  upon 
union  rates.  The  individual  members  who  lost  their  positions  have 
suffered  damage,  but  the  union  is  a  corporation,  and  as  such  is  dis- 
tinct from  its  members.  Being  a  cooperative  corporation,  it  can  make 
no  profit  on  its  contracts  for  itself,  and  consequently  can  sustain  no 
damages  through  a  violation  of  the  contracts. 

Of  course  legal  ingenuity  will  suggest  some  device  to  so  frame 
the  labor  contract  as  to  bring  it  within  the  established  rules  of 
damages.  But  it  means  that  the  attainment  of  a  perfectly  legitimate 
end  must  be  sought  under  disguise. 

And,  lastly,  there  is  always  open  the  defense  of  duress.  Very 
often  the  agreement  is  reached  in  the  course  of,  or  in  the  appre- 
hension of,  a  strike.  Whenever  the  agreement  is  sued  upon  by  the 
union  it  is  met  with  the  defense  that  the  agreement  had  been 
obtained  by  threats  to  injure  the  defendant's  business  in  case  he 
would  not  agree  to  the  terms  of  the  union.  That  such  threats, 
expressed  or  implied,  are  actually  resorted  to  may  be  freely  con- 
ceded. The  question  is,  however,  Is  a  threat  to  injure  the  defendant's 
business  unlawful  ? 

It  goes  without  saying  that  a  threat  to  commit  violence  against 
the  person  or  property  of  an  employer  or  any  one  else  is  within  the 
purview  of  the  penal  statutes  prohibiting  threats,  etc.  But  there  are 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         151 

cases  where  one  may  inflict  an  injury  upon  another  without  becoming 
liable  therefor,  either  civilly  or  criminally.  If  I  build  on  my  vacant 
lot  adjoining  my  neighbor's  house  it  will  shut  out  the  light  from  the 
same  and  its  rental  income  will  go  down,  —  a  fact  familiar  to  every 
landlord  in  the  upper  part  of  Manhattan  Island ;  yet  I  would  not 
be  liable  in  damages  to  my  neighbor.  And  if  I  offer  to  sell  to  my 
neighbor  that  lot  at  my  own  figure,  threatening  that  I  shall  other- 
wise erect  a  building  on  it  and  thus  cause  him  a  loss  on  the  value 
of  his  property,  I  am  not  liable.  Similarly,  if  a  walking  delegate 
threatens  a  manufacturer  of  ladies'  garments  that  unless  he  accedes 
to  the  terms  of  the  union  a  strike  will  be  kept  on  in  his  factory 
until  the  end  of  the  season,  and  he  will  lose  his  orders,  which  will 
go  to  his  competitors,  it  is  not  against  the  law.  Yet,  at  least  in  one 
case,  I  have  had  the  experience  that  a  defense  alleging,  in  the 
vaguest  possible  terms,  threats  "to  injure  the  defendant's  business," 
without  specifying  any  unlawful  act,  was  sustained  by  Judge  Truax, 
of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court,  as  a  sufficient  defense  (on  a 
demurrer).  The  case  is  probably  not  an  exception. 

In  general,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  right  of  workmen  to 
refuse  by  concerted  action  to  work  for  an  employer,  if  the  terms 
do  not  suit  them,  has  received  unqualified  recognition.  The  com- 
mon law  regards  every  strike  as  a  conspiracy.  The  New  York 
statute  exempts  from  this  inhibition  a  strike  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  an  advance  in  wages  or  for  opposing  a  reduction  of 
wages.  But  as  this  statute  creates  an  exception  from  the  common 
law,  it  will  under  the  familiar  rule  be  construed  strictly.;  anything 
not  expressly  contained  in  it  is  still  governed  by  common-law  prin- 
ciples. Now,  a  strike  is  not  always  the  result  of  differences  as  to 
the  rate  of  wages,  and  contracts  are  often  made  by  peaceable  agree- 
ment, without  resort  to  a  strike,  for  other  purposes  as  important  to 
the  union  as  an  advance  in  the  rate  of  wages. 

One  of  the  fundamental  demands  persisted  in  by  every  union  and 
strenuously  opposed  by  employers  is  what  is  called  the  "  recognition 
of  the  union."  The  demand  is  usually  regarded  by  the  employers 
as  an  encroachment  upon  what  is  technically  known  as  "  the  free- 
dom of  labor."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  is  identical  with 
similar  restrictions  inserted  in  every  contract,  whereby  one  party 
agrees  to  deliver  goods  or  render  services  to  another.  If  a  railway 
company  bids  for  transportation  of  troops  at  so  much  per  soldier, 
it  is  quite  natural  for  it  to  stipulate  that  it  shall  have  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  transportation  between  the  particular  points  contemplated 


152         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

in  the  contract.  If  a  labor  organization  makes  a  contract  of  em- 
ployment, it  must  insist  upon  a  similar  provision,  lest  its  contract 
should  become  inoperative.  Indeed,  the  demand  of  an  employer  for 
help  is  elastic,  subject  to  expansion  and  contraction.  He  has  the 
privilege  of  laying  off  as  many  hands  as  may  at  any  time  be  super- 
fluous to  him.  If  he  should  reserve  the  further  privilege  of  subse- 
quently replacing  them  by  outsiders  who  are  not  bound  by  the 
terms  of  the  union  contract,  it  would  enable  him  practically  to 
rescind  the  contract  with  the  union  without  openly  saying  so. 

No  less  important  is  the  injury  to  the  discipline  of  the  organized 
body,  which  must  inevitably  result  from  suffering  a  number  of  out- 
siders, not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  that  body,  to  work  side  by 
side  with  the  members  of  the  union.  A  union  of  workmen  will  avail 
itself  primarily  of  the  same  remedies  to  enforce  the  terms  of  its  hiring 
as  will  a  single  hired  man.  In  case  of  a  breach  of  contract  on  the  part 
of  the  employer,  the  individual  employee  may  quit ;  if  he  is  reason- 
ably certain  that  he  is  wanted  by  his  employer,  he  may  thus  succeed 
in  obtaining  redress.  But  under  similar  circumstances,  when  one 
half  of  the  force  of  a  factory  do  not  belong  to  the  union,  what  will 
it  avail  the  other  half  to  quit,  if  the  outsiders  remain  at  work  ? 
Whoever  has  had  any  experience  on  the  labor  side  of  this  matter  is 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  a  union  can  sooner  concede  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  rate  of  wages  than  waive  this  fundamental  demand. 
Now,  what  is  the  attitude  of  the  law  on  this  subject  ? 

The  appellate  division  of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court  has  lately 
made  a  new  departure  (in  the  case  of  Davis  v.  United  Portable  Hoist- 
ing Engineers,  decided  in  1898)  by  adopting  the  view  of  the  British 
House  of  Lords,  which  has  unqualifiedly  recognized  the  right  of  a 
labor  union  to  refuse  to  work  with  nonunion  men  and  to  demand 
the  discharge  of  nonunion  men  where  union  members  are  employed. 
This  view  is  at  variance  with  New  York  precedents  —  for  example, 
the  case  of  Curran  v.  Galen  —  decided  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  as 
late  as  1891,  where  a  similar  demand  by  a  labor  union  was  held  to 
be  an  unlawful  interference  with  the  right  of  every  citizen  to  work 
at  whatever  terms  he  chooses.1 

From  all  this  it  may  be  seen  that  the  law  has  not  kept  pace  with 
the  industrial  growth  of  this  country.  The  old  common-law  hostility 
to  "  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade  "  has  blocked  the  way  of 
combinations  of  capital  as  well  as  of  combinations  of  labor.  Both 
have  developed,  however,  although  denied  the  opportunity  to  invoke 

1  See  cases  cited  by  Cooke  above,  p.  146.    Also,  in  the  following  chapter,  p.  183. 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS         153 

the  assistance  of  the  law.  It  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  this  is  an 
anomalous  condition.  These  legal  relics  of  a  past  age  handicap 
labor  more  than  capital. 

My  brief  acquaintance  with  both  employers  and  employees  in  the 
New  York  tailoring  trade  convinces  me  that  this  condition  exercises 
a  demoralizing  influence  upon  both  employers  and  employees. 
Manufacturers  make  contracts  with  labor  unions  as  a  mere  matter 
of  form.  I  could  name  many  a  cloak  manufacturer  who  told  me, 
while  affixing  his  signature  to  the  contract,  that  he  did  not  think  it 
was  worth  the  paper  it  was  written  on  and  that  it  could  not  be 
enforced.  I  know  of  many  prominent  cloak  manufacturers  who 
violated  their  agreements  no  sooner  than  they  were  made ;  some  of 
them  confessed  it  to  me  confidentially.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
union,  knowing  that  its  agreements  must  yet  be  tested  in  court 
before  their  validity  may  be  established,  is  sometimes  impelled  to 
make  unreasonable  demands  upon  the  employers,  such,  for  example, 
as  the  deposit  of  cash  or  promissory  notes  as  security  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  the  agreement ;  and  what  is  still  more  important, 
having  little  expectation  of  obtaining  redress  in  court,  the  union 
quite  naturally  resorts  to  the  strike,  whenever  practicable,  as  the 
only  efficient  method  of  settling  its  differences  with  the  employer. 

What  is  imperatively  needed  is  that  the  law  frankly  recognize 
combinations  of  labor  for  the  object  of  fixing  the  terms  of  the  joint 
contract  of  employment.  The  law  ought  to  recognize  the  peculiar 
nature  of  the  trade  union  as  distinct  from  an  ordinary  business 
corporation.  There  ought  to  be  a  law  permitting  the  incorpo- 
ration of  associations  of  workmen  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give 
efficiency  to  their  contracts  with  employers  of  labor.  The  law 
should  expressly  recognize  the  identity  of  interest  between  the  asso- 
ciation and  its  members;  it  should  be  so  framed  that  a  breach  of  a 
joint  contract  of  employment  would  give  the  union  a  right  of  action 
for  the  damages  sustained  by  its  members  through  resulting  loss  of 
wages  or  employment.  The  scope  of  this  enabling  act  must  be  suffi- 
ciently broad  to  include  all  legitimate  objects  for  which  agreements 
are  to-day  made  between  labor  unions  and  employers. 

This  would  virtually  introduce  arbitration  by  the  courts  in  labor 
disputes,  thus  to  some  extent  superseding  the  strike  by  ordinary 
methods  of  settling  disputes  in  organized  society. 

It  is  one  of  the  first  steps  to  be  taken  if  it  is  desired  to  create  a 
modus  vivendi  between  capital  and  labor  instead  of  the  present 
state  of  warfare. 


154         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

A.  F.  Weber,  Chief  Statistician,  Department  of  Labor,  Albany, 
New  York  : 

The  compulsory  incorporation  of  trade  unions  does  not  seem 
advisable  to  me  at  the  present  time.  The  principal  argument  in 
favor  of  that  policy  is  the  impossibility  of  holding  unincorporated 
unions  to  their  contracts.  No  one  familiar  with  industrial  opera- 
tions is  disposed  to  deny  that  local  unions  have  been  wont  to  keep 
or  break  agreements  at  their  own  convenience.  But  the  remedy  for 
this  lack  of  control  may  be  found  in  the  organization  of  employers, 
without  resorting  to  experimental  legislation  which  might  introduce 
greater  evils  than  the  existing  ones.  The  contracts  so  frequently 
broken  by  unions  are  almost  always  contracts  with  individual 
employers.  Just  as  rapidly  as  the  employers  have  come  together 
for  concerted  action  and  replaced  these  individual  agreements  with 
one  general  agreement  between  the  association  of  employers  and 
the  union  of  workingmen,  they  have  been  able  to  hold  the  unions 
strictly  to  the  terms  of  their  agreement.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the 
mason  builders  in  New  York  and  Boston  have  for  some  fifteen  years 
preserved  industrial  peace  with  the  journeyman  bricklayers  and 
masons.  In  those  cities  the  single  annual  agreement  entered  into 
by  representatives  of  the  two  bodies  of  employers  and  employees 
has  been  kept  inviolate,  while  in  cities  where  agreements  have  been 
signed  by  individual  employers  there  have  been  frequent  strikes, 
lockouts,  and  violations  of  contract. 

The  experience  in  the  coal-mining  industry  has  been  the  same. 
In  the  anthracite  district  agreements,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
entered  into  at  all,  have  been  signed  by  individual  operators  and 
have  not  proved  satisfactory  to  either  side.  But  in  Illinois  and 
other  central  states  the  agreement  is  between  an  employers'  asso- 
ciation and  the  International  Union  of  miners.  All  the  testimony 
available  goes  to  show  that  during  the  five  years'  duration  of  this 
arrangement  industrial  relations  have  been  more  stable  and  satis- 
factory in  every  way  than  they  ever  were  before  1898,  or  than  they 
are  at  the  present  time  in  regions  where  such  an  arrangement  is 
wanting.  Considering  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  work- 
men in  the  mining  industry  are  unskilled  and  uneducated,  this 
experience  seems  to  afford  a  complete  answer  to  the  affirmation 
that  responsibility  can  be  secured  among  such  workingmen  only 
through  the  incorporation  of  their  unions.  Other  tests  of  loyalty  to 
the  joint  agreement  are  familiar,  —  such  as  that  of  the  longshoremen's 


THE  INCORPORATION  OF  TRADE  UNIONS 


'55 


union,  when  the  international  president  sent  nonunion  men  to 
work  in  the  place  of  members  who  had  gone  on  strike  contrary 
to  the  agreement, — while  the  history  of  railroad  transportation  in 
this  country  shows  that  contracts  would  not  be  treated  with  greater 
respect  by  incorporated  unions  of  engineers  or  conductors  than 
they  are  now  by  the  unincorporated  organizations. 

On  the  other  hand,  compulsory  incorporation  might  discourage 
the  movement  toward  organization,  which  we  all  recognize  as  the 
basis  of  the  economic  independence  of  wage  workers.  Such  would 
be  the  effect  if  that  policy  promoted  litigation,  which  it  would  prob- 
ably do ;  for  it  would  be  difficult  to  frame  a  law  that  would  make 
the  union  responsible  for  the  acts  of  its  officers  or  committees  and 
not  hold  it  responsible  for  unauthorized  acts  of  its  individual  mem- 
bers. In  the  affairs  of  the  ordinary  business  corporation  the 
unauthorized  acts  of  an  individual  stockholder  cannot  embarrass 
the  corporation  because  all  power  is  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the 
directors.  But  authority  in  a  trade  union  cannot  be  so  readily 
concentrated  in  a  board  of  directors,  since  an  agreement  with 
employers  necessarily  calls  for  the  cooperation  of  every  individual 
member;  and  if  the  courts  should  entertain  suits  against  the  union 
for  unauthorized  acts  of  individual  members,  the  field  for  intrigues 
between  designing  employers  and  avaricious  members  would  be 
very  large.  The  unions  might  find  it  impossible  to  maintain  any 
funds  whatsoever,  and  that  would  of  course  spell  the  death  of 
unionism  and  collective  bargaining. 

Any  such  movement  to  injure  or  destroy  trade  unionism  would 
be  disastrous  to  the  best  interests  of  the  people,  because  collective 
bargaining  through  the  organization  of  labor  is  an  indisputable 
necessity  in  modern  industry.  If  a  frank,  open  policy  of  organiza- 
tion is  prevented  or  seriously  embarrassed  by  legal  restrictions, 
there  will  probably  come  into  existence  secret  and  unlawful  com- 
binations such  as  agitated  England  before  the  repeal  of  the  combi- 
nation laws.  And  if  the  trade  unions'  educational  work  among  the 
emigrants  —  an  educational  work  that  ranks  second  only  to  the 
work  of  the  public  schools  in  American  life  —  should  be  stopped  or 
seriously  hampered,  we  should  soon  witness  a  revolution  in  our 
politics  only  dimly  foreshadowed  in  the  socialism  engendered  by 
the  recent  coal  strike.  The  effect  of  the  Taff  Vale  decision  in 
England  has  been  a  markedly  increased  participation  in  politics  by 
the  organized  workers  as  a  class. 


VII 

DECISIONS   OF  COURTS  IN   LABOR  DISPUTES 

I.  INJUNCTIONS  AND  TRIAL  BY  JURY  l 

The  following  extracts  from  decisions  of  courts  illustrate  the 
use  of  the  injunction  under  various  circumstances  in  labor  dis- 
putes, and  certain  conflicting  decisions  in  different  jurisdictions. 
It  is  not  intended  to  give  leading  cases  on  the  technical  points 
so  much  as  to  illustrate  the  industrial  facts  involved.  While 
the  decisions  generally  sustain  the  increased  use  of  writs  of 
injunction,  it  is  well  to  call  attention  to  their  significance  by 
way  of  protests  which  legal  writers  have  felt  called  upon  to 
make.  F.  J.  Stimson,  in  writing  of  "The  Modern  Use  of  In- 
junctions," says  :2 

We  have  seen,  in  private  law  suits  between  individuals  or  corpo- 
rations, courts  of  equity  —  civil,  not  criminal  courts  —  invoked  to 
restrain,  not  alone  parties  to  the  suits,  but  anybody,  the  whole 
world,  with  or  without  actual  notice  of  a  court  order  or  injunction, 
not  merely  from  interfering  with  property  which  is  the  subject  of 
the  suits,  but  also  from  committing,  or  conspiring  to  commit,  or  aid- 
ing or  advising  others  to  commit,  acts  which  are  criminal ;  and 

1  See  also  C.  C.  Allen,  "Injunction  and  Organized  Labor,"  Reports  American 
Bar  Association,  Vol.  XVII,  p.   299  (1894) ;  same,  American  Law  Review,  Vol. 
XXVIII,  p.  828  ;  Charles  Noble  Gregory,  "  Government  by  Injunction,"  Harvard 
Law  Review,  Vol.  XI,  p.  487   (1898);    Wm.   Draper  Lewis,  "A   Protest  against 
administering  Criminal  Law  by  Injunction," American  Law  Register,  Vol.  XXXIII, 
p.  879  (1894);  Ben.  S.  Dean,  "Government  by  Injunction,"  Green  Bag,  Vol.  IX, 
p.  540;  P.  L.  Edwards,  "Labor  Strikes  and  Injunctions,"  Central  Law  Journal, 
Vol.  LIX,  p. 23  (1904);  Hearings,  Judiciary  Committee,  House  of  Representatives, 
on  Anti-Injunction  Bill,  January  13  to  March  22, 1904,  Government  Printing  Office; 
Stimson,  "Handbook  to  the  Labor  Law  of  the  United  States,"  1896;  Report  of 
the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Employer  and  Employed,  1904;  Groat,  "Trade 
Unions  and  the  Law  in  New  York,"  Columbia  University,  1905. 

2  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  X,  p.  189  (1895). 

156 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       157 

sometimes  only  on  the  ground  that  they  are  criminal  acts,  crimi- 
nal at  common  law  or  made  so  by  the  recent  statutes  known  as  the 
Anti-Trust  Law  and  the  Interstate  Commerce  Law.  We  have  seen 
more:  we  have  seen  persons  committing,  or  about  to  commit,  or 
said  to  be  about  to  commit,  such  acts,  arrested  by  these  civil  courts, 
deprived  of  their  liberty,  and  punished  by  imprisonment;  and  this, 
as  in  the  Debs  case  and  others,  after  the  emergency  which  furnished 
the  excuse  for  invoking  the  protective  jurisdiction  of  the  equity 
court  had  long  gone  by.  And  we  have  seen  persons  punished  with- 
out the  usual  safeguards  of  liberty  afforded  by  the  criminal  law  — 
without  indictment,  without  right  to  counsel,  without  being  con- 
fronted with  witnesses,  without  trial  by  jury  —  and  sentenced  with- 
out uniform  statute,  at  the  discretion  of  the  judge. 

Similarly  Richard  C.  McMurtie  1  spoke  of  the 

value  of  the  rule  that  removes  criminal  jurisprudence  from  even 
the  apparent  caprice  of  the  judiciary  and  compels  the  intervention 
of  a  public  trial,  with  the  witnesses  and  the  accused  brought  face  to 
face,  a  jury  to  determine  the  facts,  the  public  discussion  of  the 
admissibility  and  effect  of  evidence,  and  a  fixed  standard  of  punish- 
ment, with  a  right  to  a  review  and  to  an  appeal  to  the  pardoning 
power.  .  .  .  The  whole  system  of  administering  the  criminal  laws 
is  changed  in  the  one  particular  that  we  and  our  ancestors  have 
thought  essential  to  political  freedom,  and  which  the  experience  of 
the  world  proves  there  is  no  other  sure  support  for  that  which  is 
beyond  all  price  —  that  is,  assuring  to  the  accused  of  any  crime  for 
which  there  can  be  fine  and  imprisonment  imposed,  a  trial  by  jury, 
according  to  the  course  of  the  common  law,  that  is,  with  the 
witnesses  produced  and  examined  in  the  presence  of  the  accused 
and  before  the  world.  If  these  things  are  not  deemed  important, 
there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said. 

Judge  Caldwell,  of  the  Federal  Court,  in  a  dissenting  opinion 
in  a  case  where  the  union  was  charged  with  boycotting,2  said  : 

Courts  of  equity  have  no  jurisdiction  to  enforce  the  criminal 
laws.  ...  It  is  said  by  those  who  defend  the  assumption  of  this 
jurisdiction  by  the  federal  courts  that  it  is  a  swifter  and  speedier 
mode  of  dealing  with  those  who  violate  or  threaten  to  violate  the 

1  "  Equity  Jurisdiction  applied  to  Crimes  and  Misdemeanors,"  American  Law 
Register,  Vol.  XXXI  (N.S.),  pp.  2,  14  (1892). 

2  Hopkins  v.  Oxley  Stave  Company,  83  Fed.  at  p.  924  (1897). 


158         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

laws  than  by  the  prescribed  and  customary  method  of  proceeding 
in  courts  of  law:  that  it  is  a  "  short  cut "  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  desired  object;  that  it  avoids  the  uncertainty  and  delay  inci- 
dent to  a  jury  trial,  occasions  less  expense,  and  insures  a  speedier 
punishment.  All  this  may  be  conceded  to  be  true.  But  the  logical 
difficulty  with  this  reasoning  is  that  it  confers  jurisdiction  on  the 
mob  equally  with  the  chancellor.  ...  It  can  make  little  difference 
to  the  victims  of  short-cut  and  unconstitutional  methods  whether 
it  is  the  mob  or  the  chancellor  that  deprives  them  of  their  constitu- 
tional rights.  It  is  vain  to  disguise  the  fact  that  this  desire  for  a 
short  cut  originates  in  the  feeling  of  hostility  to  trial  by  jury,  —  a 
mode  of  trial  that  has  never  been  popular  with  the  aristocracy  of 
wealth  or  the  corporations  and  trusts.  .  .  .  No  reasoning  and  no 
precedents  can  avail  to  deprive  the  citizen  accused  of  crime  of  his 
right  to  a  jury  trial  guaranteed  to  him  by  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  "except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  and  naval  forces, 
or  in  the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  of  public 
danger."  .  .  .  With  the  interpolations  essential  to  support  govern- 
ment by  injunction,  the  constitution  would  contain  the  following 
further  exceptions  to  the  right  of  trial  by  jury:  "And  except  when 
many  persons  are  associated  together  for  a  common  purpose,  and 
except  in  the  case  of  members  of  trade  unions  and  other  labor 
organizations,  and  except  in  all  cases  of  persons  *  of  small  means.'  " 

Stimson  also  holds  that  the  courts  by  the  use  of  this  writ 
may  encroach  on  the  executive  branch  of  government : l 

It  makes  the  courts  no  longer  judicial,  but  a  part  (and  it  bids  fair 
to  be  a  most  important  part)  of  the  executive  branch  of  government. 
More  briefly  and  picturesquely:  the  federal  courts  may  thus  grow 
into  mere  star-chambers  and  run  the  country. 

Wm.  H.  Dunbar  makes  an  analogous  charge  of  encroachment 
on  the  legislative  branch  of  government,  saying:2 

Courts  of  equity,  like  courts  of  law,  are  established  for  the  deter- 
mination of  controversies  between  individuals.  The  power  to  issue 
preliminary  injunctions  is  incidental  to  the  power  of  determining 
such  controversies.  The  right  to  lay  down  general  rules  for  the 

1  Loc.  dt.,  p.  193. 

2  "Government  by   Injunction,"   Law  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  362; 
reprinted  in  Economic  Studies,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  1-43. 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       159 

government  of  the  community,  to  declare  ex  cathedra  in  advance  of 
any  contentious  proceedings  in  which  the  question  arises  what  may 
and  what  may  not  lawfully  be  done,  to  impose  on  the  whole  com- 
munity a  duty  to  refrain  from  doing  a  certain  act,  is  in  its  nature 
a  legislative  right.  .  .  . 

The  power  of  courts  to  punish  by  summary  proceedings  for  con- 
tempt all  persons  who  obstruct  the  administration  of  justice  or  dis- 
obey the  lawful  orders  of  the  court  has  often  been  described  as  the 
most  unrestrained  power  exercised  in  our  system  of  government. 
Such  matters  are  tried  by  the  court  itself  and  without  any  right  of 
appeal  for  error  of  fact  or  law.  This  power  is  absolutely  essential 
to  the  efficient  administration  of  justice.  It  behooves  the  judiciary, 
'  therefore,  not  only  to  exercise  it  with  discretion,  but  to  avoid  exten- 
sions of  jurisdiction  which  may  lead  to  the  necessity  of  exercising 
this  power  in  matters  properly  cognizable  by  the  courts  of  criminal 
law  and  by  a  jury.  A  community  in  which  the  jury  system  is  still 
preserved  and  guarded  as  a  bulwark  of  liberty  will  not  tolerate 
encroachments  on  the  part  of  the  courts  of  equity  by  which,  in  those 
very  cases  in  which  a  large  part  of  the  community  is  most  disposed 
to  rely  upon  the  jury  as  a  check  upon  the  supposed  partiality  of  the 
courts,  the  process  of  punishment  by  contempt  is  made  to  take  the 
place  of  trial  by  jury.  The  machinery  essential  to  the  ordinary 
work  of  the  courts  is  in  danger  of  being  ruined  by  its  use  in  such 
extraordinary  emergencies.  It  is  strangely  inconsistent  with  estab- 
lished principles  that  courts  of  equity  should  take  jurisdiction  in 
order  to  prevent  the  ultimate  issues  being  tried  by  jury;  that  they 
should  grant  injunctions  which  appear  at  least  to  be  designed  pri- 
marily as  a  means  of  drawing  to  the  court  power  to  punish  by  pro- 
ceedings for  contempt  acts  which  should  have  been  prevented  by 
the  executive  authorities  and  should  be  punished  by  the  criminal 
law.  A  preliminary  injunction  granted  not  as  an  incident  to  a 
controversy  between  individuals,  riot  seeking  to  restrain  a  defendant 
until  the  rights  between  him  and  the  plaintiff  can  be  ascertained, 
not  acting  upon  known  persons  to  prevent  them  from  doing  certain 
acts,  but  seeking  to  throw  the  aegis  of  the  court  over  certain  prop- 
erty so  as  to  protect  it  from  all  persons  whatsoever  is  of  itself  an 
anomaly  in  juristic  procedure.  When  such  an  injunction  is  granted 
under  circumstances  which  preclude  its  enforcement,  except  by 
assuming  the  duty  lodged  with  the  executive  of  preserving  public 
order,  and  apparently  largely  for  the  purpose  of  assuming  that  duty, 
it  presents  a  serious  menace  to  the  very  framework  of  government. 


160        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

A  similar  warning  is  uttered  by  Joel  H'.  Benton,  Jr.,  in  the 
annual  address  before  the  Grafton  and  Coos  Bar  Association,  in 
1898.  He  said  :l 

It  means  that  the  courts  have,  in  the  judgment  of  many  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  thoughtful  citizens  and  of  Congress,  exceeded 
their  just  powers;  that  they  have  by  the  so-called  exercise  of  equity 
powers  practically  assumed  to  create  and  to  punish  offenses  upon 
trial  by  themselves  without  a  jury  and  with  penalties  imposed  at 
their  discretion.  And  this  means  that,  if  the  courts  continue  in  this 
course,  their  power  to  enforce  their  orders  by  proceedings  for  con- 
tempt will  be  limited  by  legislation.  The  people  will  not,  and  they 
ought  not,  to  submit  to  decisions  like  those  in  the  Northern  Pacific 
and  Ann  Arbor  cases.  The  result  will  be  to  deprive  the  courts  of 
the  power  to  enforce  orders  where  they  ought  to  have  power  to 
enforce,  and  the  mischief  that  will  come  can  hardly  be  estimated. 
The  remedy  is  not  by  legislation.  The  subject  is  not  one  for  parti- 
san debate,  and  should  not  enter  into  politics  in  any  degree 
whatever.  Thoughtful,  intelligent,  conservative  discussion  by  the 
profession  will  remedy  the  evil,  and  to  that  discussion  all  members 
of  the  bar  who  have  the  good  of  the  republic  at  heart  ought  to 
bring  their  best  effort. 

The  question  of  trial  by  jury,  raised  by  members  of  the  bar, 
has  been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  the  case  of  Debs.2  The  opinion  says  : 

...  It  is  objected  that  it  is  outside  of  the  jurisdiction  of  a  court 
of  equity  to  enjoin  the  commission  of  crimes.  This,  as  a  general 
proposition,  is  unquestionable.  A  chancellor  has  no  criminal  juris- 
diction. Something  more  than  the  threatened  commission  of  an 
offense  against  the  laws  of  the  land  is  necessary  to  call  into  exercise 
the  injunctive  powers  of  the  court.  There  must  be  some  interfer- 
ences, actual  or  threatened,  with  property  or  rights  of  a  pecuniary 
nature;  but  when  such  interferences  appear,  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
court  of  equity  arises,  and  is  not  destroyed  by  the  fact  that  they 
are  accompanied  by  or  are  themselves  violations  of  the  criminal 
law.  .  .  .  The  law  is  full  of  instances  in  which  the  same  act  may 
give  rise  to  a  civil  action  and  a  criminal  prosecution.  An  assault 

1  "What  is  Government  by  Injunction?  Does  it  exist  in  the  United  States?" 
Concord,  N.H.,  1898.  2  In  re  Debs,  158  U.  S.,  at  p.  593  (1895). 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       161 

with  intent  to  kill  may  be  punished  criminally,  under  an  indictment 
therefor,  or  will  support  a  civil  action  for  damages;  and  the  same 
is  true  of  all  other  offenses  which  cause  injury  to  person  or  property. 
In  such  cases  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  court  is  invoked  not  to 
enforce  the  criminal  law  and  punish  the  wrongdoer,  but  to  compen- 
sate the  injured  party  for  the  damages  which  he  or  his  property  has 
suffered;  and  it  is  no  defense  to  the  civil  action  that  the  same  act 
by  the  defendant  exposes  him  also  to  indictment  and  punishment  in 
a  court  of  criminal  jurisdiction.  So  here  the  acts  of  the  defendants 
may  or  may  not  have  been  violations  of  the  criminal  law.  If  they 
were,  that  matter  is  for  inquiry  in  other  proceedings.  The  complaint 
made  against  them  in  this  is  of  disobedience  to  an  order  of  a  civil 
court,  made  for  the  protection  of  property  and  the  security  of  rights. 
If  any  criminal  prosecution  be  brought  against  them  for  the  crimi- 
nal offenses  alleged  in  the  bill  of  complaint,  —  of  derailing  and  wreck- 
ing engines  and  trains,  assaulting  and  disabling  employees  of  the 
railroad  companies,  it  will  be  no  defense  to  such  prosecution  that 
they  disobeyed  the  orders  of  injunction  served  upon  them  and  have 
been  punished  for  disobedience. 

Nor  is  there  in  this  any  invasion  of  the  constitutional  right  of 
trial  by  jury.  We  fully  agree  with  counsel  that  "  it  matters  not  what 
form  the  attempt  to  deny  constitutional  right  may  take;  it  is  vain 
and  ineffectual,  and  must  be  so  declared  by  the  courts."  And  we 
reaffirm  the  declaration  made  for  the  court  by  Justice  Bradley  in 
Boydv.  U.  S.t  116  U.  S.  616,  635,  that  "it  is  the  duty  of  courts  to 
be  watchful  for  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  citizen,  and  against 
any  stealthy  encroachments  thereon.  Their  motto  should  be  obsta 
principiis."  But  the  power  of  a  court  to  make  an  order  carries  with 
it  the  equal  power  to  punish  for  a  disobedience  of  that  order,  and 
the  inquiry  as  to  the  question  of  disobedience  has  been  from  time 
immemorial  the  special  function  of  the  court.  And  this  is  no  tech- 
nical rule.  In  order  that  a  court  may  compel  obedience  to  its  orders, 
it  must  have  the  right  to  inquire  whether  there  has  been  any  dis- 
obedience thereof.  To  submit  the  question  of  disobedience  to 
another  tribunal,  be  it  a  jury  or  another  court,  could  operate  to 
deprive  the  proceeding  of  half  its  efficiency.  In  the  case  of  Yates, 
4  Johns.  314,  369,  Chancellor  Kent,  then  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  state  of  New  York,  said :  "  In  the  case  of  Earl  of  Shafts- 
bury,  2  St.  Trials,  615,  s.  c.  i  Mod.  144,  who  was  imprisoned  by  the 
House  of  Lords  for  'high  contempts  committed  against  it/  and 
brought  into  the  King's  Bench,  the  court  held  that  they  had  no 


1 62         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

authority  to  judge  of  the  contempt,  and  remanded  the  prisoner.  The 
court  in  that  case  seem  to  have  laid  down  a  principle  from  which 
they  never  have  departed,  and  which  is  essential  to  the  due  admin- 
istration of  justice.  This  principle  that  every  court,  at  least  of  the 
superior  kind,  in  which  great  confidence  is  placed  must  be  the  sole 
judge  in  the  last  resort  of  contempts  arising  therein,  is  more  ex- 
plicitly defined  and  more  emphatically  enforced  in  the  two  subse- 
quent cases  of  The  Queen  v.  Paty  and  of  The  King  v.  Crosby"  And 
again,  on  page  371,  "Justice  Blackstone  pursued  the  same  train 
of  observation,  and  declared  that  all  courts,  by  which  he  meant 
to  include  the  two  houses  of  Parliament  and  the  courts  of  West- 
minster Hall,  could  have  no  control  in  matters  of»  contempt;  that 
the  sole  adjudication  of  contempts  and  the  punishments  there- 
of belonged  exclusively,  and  without'  interfering,  to  each  respec- 
tive court."  In  Watson  v.  Williams,  36  Miss.  331,  341,  it  was  said: 
"  The  power  to  fine  and  imprison  for  contempt,  from  the  earliest 
history  of  jurisprudence,  has  been  regarded  as  a  necessary  incident 
and  attribute  of  a  court,  without  which  it  could  no  more  exist  than 
without  a  judge.  It  is  a  power  inherent  in  all  courts  of  record,  and 
coexisting  with  them  by  the  wise  provisions  of  the  common  law. 
A  court  without  the  power  effectually  to  protect  itself  against  the 
assaults  of  the  lawless,  or  to  enforce  its  orders,  judgments,  or 
decrees  against  the  recusant  parties  before  it,  would  be  a  disgrace 
to  the  legislation,  and  a  stigma  upon  the  age  which  invented  it." 

The  so-called  "blanket"  or  "omnibus"  injunction  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  has  also  been  upheld  by  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  following  words  : * 

The  facts  that  the  petitioner  was  not  a  party  to  such  suit,  nor 
served  with  process  of  subpoena,  nor  had  notice  of  the  application 
made  by  the  complainant  for  the  mandatory  injunction,  nor  was 
served  by  the  officers  of  the  court  with  such  injunction,  are 
immaterial,  so  long  as  it  was  made  to  appear  that  he  had  notice  of 
the  issuing  of  an  injunction  by  the  court.  To  render  a  person  amen- 
able to  an  injunction  it  is  neither  necessary  that  he  should  have 
been  a  party  to  the  suit  in  which  the  injunction  was  issued,  nor  to 
have  been  actually  served  with  a  copy  of  it,  so  long  as  he  appears 
to  have  had  actual  notice. 

1  In  re  Lennon,  166  U.  S.  554. 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       163 

The  following  cases  further  illustrate  the  circumstances  and 
furnish  the  grounds  on  which  the  courts  base  their  use  of  the 
writ  of  injunction.1 

II.  PICKETING 

In  the  case  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company  v.  Ruef, 
120  Fed.  102  (1903),  Judge  McPherson,  of  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  said : 

...  I  believe,  and  that  without  a  doubt,  that  in  so  far  as  propo- 
sitions are  involved  in  this  case,  the  law  is  as  follows: 

1.  The  defendants  acted  within  their  right  when  they  went  out 
on  strike.    Whether  with  good  cause  or  without  any  cause  or  reason, 
they  had  the  right  to  quit  work  for  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  and  their  reasons  for  quitting  were  reasons  which  they 
need  not  give  to  any  one.    And  that  they  all  went  out  in  a  body,  by 
agreement  or  preconcerted  arrangement,  does  not  militate  against 
them  or  affect  this  case  in  any  way. 

2.  Such  rights  are  reciprocal,  and  the  company  had  the  right  to 
discharge  any  or  all  of  the  defendants,  with  or  without  cause,  and 
it  cannot  be  inquired  into  as  to  what  the  cause  was. 

3.  It  is  immaterial  whether  the  defendants  are  not  now  in  the 
service  of  the  company  because  of  a  strike  or  a  lockout. 

4.  The  defendants  have  the  right  to  combine  and  work  together 
in  whatsoever  way  they  believe  will  increase  their  earnings,  shorten 
their  hours,  lessen  their  labor,  or  better  their  condition,  and  it  is  for 
them,  and  them  only,  to  say  whether  they  will  work  by  the  day  or 
by  piece  work.    All  such  is  part  of  their  liberty.    And  they  can  so 
conclude  as  individuals,  or  as  organizations,  or  as  unions. 

5.  And  the  right  is  also  reciprocal.    The  railroad  company  has 
the  right  to  have  its  work  done  by  the  premium  or  piece  system, 
without  molestation  or  interference  by  defendants  or  others.    This 
is  liberty  for  the  company,  and  the  company  alone  has  the  right  to 
determine  as  to  that  matter. 

6.  When  the  defendants  went  on  a  strike,  or  when  put  out  on  a 
lockout,  their  relations  with  the  company  were   at  an  end;   they 
were  no  longer  employees  of  the  company;  and  the  places  they  once 
occupied  in  the  shops  were  no  longer  their  places,  and  never  can  be 
again,  excepting  by  mutual  agreement  between  the  defendants  and 
the  company. 

1  See  also  Bulletins  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  containing  Decisions  of  Courts. 


1 64         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

7.  No  one  of  the  defendants  can  be  compelled  by  any  law,  or  by 
any  order  of  any  court,  to  again  work  for  the  company  on  any  terms 
or  under  any  conditions. 

8.  The  company  cannot  be  compelled  to  employ  again  any  of  the 
defendants,  or  any  other  person,  by  any  law,  or  by  any  order  of  any 
court,  on  any  terms,  or  under  any  conditions. 

9.  Each,  all,  and  every  of  the  foregoing  matters  between  the  com- 
pany and  the  defendants  are  precisely  the  same,  whether  applied  to 
the  company  or  to  the  defendants. 

10.  The  company  has  the  right  to  employ  others  to  take  the 
places   once  filled   by   defendants ;    and   in   employing   others   the 
defendants  are  not  to  be  consulted,  and  it  is  of  no  lawful  concern 
to  them,  and  they  can  make  no  lawful  complaint  by  reason  thereof. 
And  it  makes  no  difference  whether  such  new  employees  are  citizens 
of  Omaha  or  of  some  other  city  or  state.    A  citizen  of  Chicago,  or 
from  any  state  in  the  Union,  has  the  same  rights  as  to  work  in 
Omaha  as  has  a  citizen  of  Omaha. 

11.  Defendants  have  the  right  to  argue  or  discuss  with  the  new 
employees  the  question  whether  the  new  employees  should  work  for 
the  company.    They  have  the  right  to  persuade  them  if  they  can. 
But  in  presenting  the  matter  they  have  no  right  to  use  force  or 
violence.    They  have  no  right  to  terrorize  or  intimidate  the  new 
employees.    The  new  employees  have  the  right  to  come  and  go  as 
they  please,  without  fear  or  molestation,  and  without  being  com- 
pelled to  discuss  this  or  any  other   question,  and   without   being 
guarded  or  picketed;  and  persistent  and  continued  and  objectionable 
persuasion  by  numbers  is  of  itself  intimidating,  and  not  allowable. 

12.  Picketing   in   proximity  to  the   shops  or  elsewhere  on  the 
streets  of  the   city,   if  in   fact   it   annoys  or   intimidates   the   new 
employees,  is  not  allowable.    The  streets  are  for  public  use,  and  the 
new  employee  has  the  same  right,  neither  more  nor  less,  to  go  back 
and  forth,  freely  and  without  molestation,  and  without  being  har- 
assed by  so-called  arguments,  and  without  being  picketed,  as  has  a 
defendant  or  other  person.    In  short,  the  rights  of  all  parties  are 
one  and  the  same. 

It  remains  to  examine  the  evidence,  and  ascertain  whether  any 
of  the  foregoing  matters  and  things  and  rights  have  been  trampled 
upon  by  the  defendants,  and,  if  so,  by  whom,  and  who  are  responsible. 

The  complainant,  with  its  thousands  of  miles  of  railroad,  has 
shops  at  various  places,  and  a  large  one  at  Omaha,  where  much 
work  is  done  on  its  cars,  engines,  and  other  appliances.  Most  of 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       165 

the  defendants  were  employees  in  the  Omaha  shops.  About  May  1 2, 
1902,  certain  shopmen,  through  committees,  presented  to  the  com- 
pany what  they  claimed  were  grievances.  Conferences  were  held, 
but  without  result.  .  .  .  Notices  were  given  and  posted  by  the  com- 
pany that  the  outgoing  employees  must  return  at  once  to  their  work. 
They  did  not  return,  but  from  that  time  on  they  all  continued  on 
the  strike,  and  the  strike  is  still  on.  The  company  employed  many 
new  men  for  the  shops,  some  of  them  citizens  of  Omaha  and  some 
from  other  states,  to  take  the  places  once  occupied  by  the  strikers. 
The  strikers  have  almost  daily  had  meetings  in  a  hall.  A  system  of 
pickets  from  their  own  number  was  organized.  These  pickets  were 
officered  by  captains  and  lieutenants  to  place  the  pickets  and 
command  them.  These  pickets  were  sometimes  placed  singly,  but 
generally  in  squads.  They  were  placed  in  close  proximity  to  the 
shops,  and  more  particularly  at  the  gates  leading  to  the  shops. 
Sometimes  they  would  be  on  the  streets  some  blocks  away  from  the 
gates,  but  at  points  where  it  was  known  the  present  employees 
must,  or  probably  would,  pass. 

The  officers  of  the  pickets  gave  orders  that  the  pickets  must 
reason  and  argue  with  the  new  men  and  those  refusing  to  go  on  the 
strike,  and  try  to  persuade  them  that  they  were  fighting  labor,  and 
in  working  for  the  company  they  were  in  hostility  to  the  interests 
of  the  laboring  men,  and  that  they  ought  to  quit.  The  defendants' 
position  is,  as  they  admit  in  evidence,  that,  if  they  could  take  from 
the  company  all  men  from  the  shops,  the  engines  would  not  be 
repaired  and  that  the  motive  power  would  be  destroyed.  Such  is 
their  avowed  purpose.  Then  the  company  would  either  be  compelled 
to  cease  carrying  passengers,  freights,  and  mail,  or,  if  it  continued 
in  business,  would  be  compelled  to  reemploy  the  strikers  on  the 
terms  named  by  the  strikers. 

The  question  of  fact  in  this  case  is  this:  Have  the  methods  to 
destroy  the  motive  power  of  the  company  been  by  argument  and ' 
persuasion  and  by  peaceable  methods  ?  If  so,  the  writ  of  injunction, 
under  the  law  as  evidenced  by  the  authorities  cited,  should  be  denied. 
Or  have  the  methods  to  destroy  the  motive  power  of  the  company 
been  attended  with  assaults  and  violence  and  intimidations  and 
terrorizing?  It  is  undisputed  that,  so  far  as  known  at  least,  the 
orders  of  the  lodges  and  by  the  officers  were  to  use  none  but  peace- 
ful methods,  by  argument  and  persuasion.  Directions  were  given 
that  all  pickets  must  not  drink  liquor,  and  to  wholly  refrain  from 
all  improper  conduct,  under  penalties  of  discipline,  including  fines. 


1 66         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  evidence  shows  that  many  of  the  defendants  are  peaceable  and 
orderly  men,  and  that  many  of  them  in  person  have  committed  no 
assaults,  nor  have  they  been  guilty  of  any  acts  of  violence  or  intimi- 
dation. And  many  of  the  defendants  named  in  the  bill,  in  my  judg- 
ment, should  not  be  named  in  the  permanent  injunction  to  be  issued 
herein,  for  the  reason  there  is  no  evidence  to  warrant  such  holding 
against  them.  It  is  contended  that  the  writ  should  issue,  even 
though  the  evidence  is  meager  or  wholly  lacking.  And  statements 
to  that  effect  can  be  found  in  some  of  the  cases  of  the  Federal  trial 
courts:  "that  the  writ  of  injunction  can  do  no  harm  to  a  law-abid- 
ing man,  even  though  no't  warranted  by  the  evidence."  I  do  not 
so  believe.  I  would  resist  such  an  application  for  two  reasons : 
(i)  I  should  not  be  mulcted  in  the  costs.  (2)  I  should  not  be  humil- 
iated by  having  an  injunction  run  against  me,  when  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  I  have  done,  or,  so  far  as  evidence  shows,  am  not  likely 
to  do,  any  of  the  things  complained  of,  and  am  not  acquiescing,  by 
silence  or  otherwise,  in  what  my  colaborers,  or  men  in  a  class  to 
which  I  belong,  are  doing.  There  must  either  be  evidence  against 
such  parties,  or  the  evidence  must  show  that  such  parties  belong  to 
the  class  or  to  the  organization  of  those  to  be  enjoined. 

Certain  parties,  to  be  mentioned  in  the  decree,  will  be  dismissed 
from  the  case.  But  they  will  be  held  to  have  knowledge  of  this 
opinion  and  of  the  decree  herein.  And  those  in  any  way  related  in 
a  business  way  to  the  other  defendants — those  who  are  servants, 
agents,  or  employees  of  the  defendants  who  are  enjoined,  and  those 
who  are  fellows  or  companions  of  defendants  who  are  strikers  —  are 
and  will  be  bound  by  the  writ  of  injunction  issued  herein,  to  the 
same  extent  and  as  fully  as  if  named  in  the  writ.  (In  re  Reese,  47 
C.  C.  A.  87,  107  Fed.  942;  Ex parte  Lennon,  166  U.  S.  548,  17  Sup. 
Ct.  658,  41  L.  Ed.  1 1 10.)  And  any  action  by  those  dismissed  from 
the  case,  as  well  as  all  others,  in  any  way  in  conflict  or  in  violation 
of  the  writ  of  injunction  will  subject  themselves  to  the  same  penal- 
ties as  though  they  were  named  in  the  writ  of  injunction.  So  that 
the  order  of  injunction  herein  will  not  include  by  name  those  against 
whom  there  is  no  evidence,  yet  the  writ  will  include,  in  effect,  all 
those  who  quit  the  company's  service  and  are  engaged  in  the  strike 
with  the  purpose  of  compelling  the  company  to  reemploy  them  by 
attempting  to  impair  the  motive  power  of  the  company  or  otherwise 
cripple  its  service.  In  other  words,  the  class  of  men  will  be  con- 
trolled by  the  injunction,  and  the  class  of  men  above  alluded  to  will 
not  violate  the  writ,  excepting  at  their  peril. 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       167 

Some  of  the  defendants,  as  the  evidence  shows,  have  been  guilty 
of  most  inexcusable  offenses,  and  some  of  conduct  the  most  out- 
rageous and  brutal,  in  carrying  on  the  general  design  of  destroying 
the  motive  power  of  the  road  by  preventing  its  repair  or  replace- 
ment. In  some  instances  those  guilty  of  misconduct  and  intimi- 
dation and  terrorizing  and  brutalities  were  not  identified,  and  it 
cannot  be  said  that  all  were  done  by  the  strikers,  because  part  of  it 
was  done  by  sympathizers. 

Details  of  a  number  of  acts  of  violence,  including  the  killing 
of  an  employee,  were  recited,  and  Judge  McPherson  then  said  : 

No  man  who  has  read  the  1 186  pages  of  evidence  which  I  have 
read  can  have  the  slightest  doubt  but  that  these  assaults  and  these 
acts  of  violence  and  these  threats  and  these  blasphemous  denun- 
ciations would  not  have  occurred  but  for  this  picketing.  Many  of 
the  defendants  took  no  part  in  them,  being  honorable  men.  No 
doubt  whatever  is  there  in  my  mind  but  that  a  great  many  of  the 
defendants  deprecate  it.  But  deprecation  ought  to  be  accompanied 
by  words  of  denunciation.  But  both  deprecation  and  denunciation 
ought  to  be  accompanied  by  some  affirmative  acts  to  stop  it  or,  at 
least,  to  cut  loose  from  such  men. 

Picketing,  as  evidenced  by  the  facts  in  this  case,  is  wrong  and 
cannot  be  countenanced  by  law-abiding  men,  and  such  picketing 
cannot  but  be  condemned  by  any  court.  As  said  before,  the  rights 
and  duties  and  obligations  of  employer  arid  employee  are  reciprocal 
and  the  same  in  requiring  fair  treatment.  And,  if  one  unfairly 
treats  the  other,  such  other  cannot  retaliate  by  some  other  unlaw- 
ful act.  Suppose  the  company  would  arm  all  of  its  employees  in 
the  shops,  and  with  the  guards  would  go  to  assaulting  and  threaten- 
ing and  vilifying  and  intimidating  the  pickets ;  would  any  self- 
respecting  man  indorse  it  ?  Would  we  not  then  surely  have  a  reign 
of  terror  in  Omaha  ?  Suppose  the  company  would  place  pickets  in 
front  of  the  residences  of  the  strikers  and  on  the  streets  they  pass, 
to  and  from  their  homes  ;  would  any  one  indorse  it  ? 

The  defendants  claim  to  have  the  belief  that  physical  violence 
alone  is  to  be  condemned.  But  all  persons  know  that  intimidation 
by  words,  by  menaces,  by  numbers,  by  position,  and  by  many  things 
is  just  as  effective  as  by  using  clubs  or  brass  knuckles  or  knives. 
Aggressive  or  daring  employees  would  be  deterred  by  none  of  the 
unlawful  acts.  But  there  are  two  classes  of  employees  who  are 
deterred.  One  class  is  the  frail  and  the  timid.  And  they  are 


1 68         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

entitled  to  protection.  Another  class,  comprising  the  greater  part 
of  men  of  this  country  —  the  law-abiding,  peaceable  men,  those  who 
do  not  engage  in  brawls  and  who  never  fight  excepting  when  driven 
to  the  wall.  They  are  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  law,  and  the 
complainant  has  the  right  to  have  them  protected. 

This  "  picketing  "  has  been  condemned  by  every  court  having 
the  matter  under  consideration.  It  is  a  pretense  for  "persuasion," 
but  is  intended  for  intimidation.  Gentlemen  never  seek  to  compel 
and  force  another  to  listen  to  the  art  of  persuasion.  To  stop 
another  on  the  street,  get  in  his  road,  follow  him  from  one  side  of 
the  street  to  another,  pursue  him  wherever  he  goes,  stand  in  front 
of  his  residence,  is  not  persuasion.  Intimidation  cannot  be  defined. 
Neither  can  fraud  be  defined.  But  every  person  knows  whether  his 
acts  are  fraudulent,  and  he  knows  whether  his  acts  are  intimidating. 
And  the  courts,  when  the  facts  are  presented,  adjudge  accordingly. 

Are  all  the  foregoing  facts,  supplemented  with  the  brutal  murder, 
evidence  of  intimidation  and  terrorizing  ?  If  not,  what  can  be  ?  In 
some  instances  the  employees  were  drunk  and  quarrelsome.  But 
very  few  of  the  assaults  were  provoked  or  brought  on  by  the 
employees.  It  is  the  system  of  picketing  that  did  it,  and  it  is 
unlawful,  and  must  be  enjoined. 

The  restraining  order  prohibits  the  strikers  from  "  following  " 
the  employees  to  their  homes  or  on  the  streets.  It  is  contended 
that  one  man  has  the  right  to  walk  on  the  streets  in  the  same 
direction  another  man  is  going.  But  that  is  not  "following," 
as  every  one  understands  what  "  following  "  means.  No  striker 
can  fail  to  understand  what  it  means.  But,  to  avoid  criticism,  the 
injunction  will  be  so  worded  as  to  be  understood  by  all.  And  the 
writ  of  permanent  injunction  will  issue,  and  the  unlawful  picketing 
and  the  wrongful  interference  with  the  rights  of  others  brought  to 
an  end. 

A  decree  for  complainant  was  entered  as  follows  : 

It  is  ordered,  adjudged,  and  decreed  that  each  and  all  of  the 
respondents  not  dismissed  as  aforesaid,  and  any  and  all  other  per- 
sons associated  with  them  in  committing  the  acts  and  grievances 
complained  of  in  said  bill  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  ordered  and  com- 
manded to  desist  and  refrain  from  in  any  manner  interfering  with 
the  free  use  and  occupation  by  complainant  of  any  and  all  of  its 
property  or  premises  of  every  kind  and  character ;  and  from  enter- 
ing upon  the  grounds  or  premises  of  complainant  for  the  purpose  of 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       169 

interfering  with,  hindering,  or  obstructing  its  business ;  and  from 
compelling  or  inducing,  or  attempting  to  compel  or  induce,  by 
threats,  intimidation,  force,  or  violence,  any  of  the  employees  of 
complainant  to  refuse  or  fail  to  perform  their  duties  as  such 
employees ;  and  from  compelling  or  inducing,  or  attempting  to 
compel  or  induce,  by  threats,  intimidation,  force,  or  violence,  any 
of  the  employees  of  complainant  to  leave  the  service  of  complainant ; 
and  from  preventing,  or  attempting  to  prevent,  any  person  or  per- 
sons, by  threats,  intimidation,  force,  or  violence,  from  entering  the 
service  of  complainant ;  or  from  preventing,  by  violence  or  in  any 
manner  of  intimidation,  any  person  or  persons  from  going  to  or 
upon  the  premises  of  complainant  for  any  lawful  purpose  whatever, 
or  from  aiding,  assisting,  or  abetting  any  person  or  persons  to  com- 
mit any  or  either  of  the  acts  aforesaid ;  and  the  said  respondents, 
each  and  all  of  them,  are  forbidden  and  restrained  from  congre- 
gating at  or  near  the  premises  of  complainant  for  the  purpose  of 
intimidating  its  employees  or  coercing  said  employees,  or  prevent- 
ing them  from  rendering  their  service  to  said  complainant ;  and 
from  inducing,  by  intimidation,  coercion,  or  threats,  any  employee 
to  leave  the  employment  of  said  complainant,  or  from  attacking, 
assaulting,  threatening,  or  by  use  of  abusive  language,  or  in  any 
manner  of  intimidation,  at  any  place  within  the  city  of  Omaha, 
attempting  to  prevent  any  of  the  employees  of  complainant  from 
continuing  in  its  service,  or  any  person  or  persons  from  engaging  in 
the  service  of  complainant ;  and  each  and  all  of  them  are  enjoined 
and  restrained  from  going,  either  singly  or  collectively,  to  the 
homes  of  complainant's  employees,  or  any  of  them,  for  the  purpose 
of  intimidating  or  coercing  any  or  all  of  them  to  leave  the  employ- 
ment of  complainant,  or  from  entering  complainant's  employ,  and 
as  well  from  intimidating  or  threatening  in  any  manner  the  wives 
and  families  of  said  employees  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  any 
employee  from  remaining  in  the  service  of  complainant. 

It  is  impossible,  as  well  as  impracticable,  for  the  court  in  advance 
to  specify  all  the  acts  and  things  which  shall  or  may  constitute 
intimidation  or  coercion.  This  must  be  left  to  the  wisdom  and 
intelligence  of  respondents.  Any  violation  of  the  order  will,  how- 
ever, be  done  at  the  party's  peril. 


170        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

III.    BOYCOTT  —  IRREPARABLE  DAMAGE1 

This  case  arose  on  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Barr,  proprietor  of 
the  Newark  Times,  against  eighteen  labor  unions  affiliated  in  the 
Essex  Trades  Council.  The  Typographical  Union,  which  was  a 
member  of  the  council,  had  withdrawn  its  members  from  the 
office  of  the  Newark  Times  on  account  of  the  use  of  imported 
"  plate  matter  "  by  the  proprietor  in  contravention  of  a  rule  of 
the  union  requiring  type  to  be  set  in  the  office.  The  Essex 
Trades  Council  took  up  the  dispute  and  issued  a  circular, 
entitled  "  The  Union  Buyer ;  Official  Bulletin  of  United  Fair 
Custom  of  Newark  and  Vicinity."  It  contained  the  following 
announcement : 

Our  Mission.  To  support  the  supporters  and  boycott  the  boy- 
cotters  of  organized  fair  labor;  to  promote  its  public  welfare  by  the 
diffusion  of  common  sense,  urging  all  to  carry  these  in  trade  only  to 
those  who  will  return  them  to  the  people  in  the  shape  of  living  wages. 

The  grievance  against  the  Times  was  stated  as  follows  : 
"  Workingmen  and  advertisers,  remember  that  plate  matter 
means  45  cents  a  day,  and  understand  why  the  Newark  Times 
is  an  unfair  office."  The  court  said : 

It  thus  clearly  appears  that  an  injury  to  the  complainant's  busi- 
ness in  circulation  and  advertising,  resulting  from  the  acts  of  the 
defendants,  comprising  a  large  number  of  persons  and  associations 
acting  in  concert,  has  not  only  been  inflicted  but  threatens  to  be 
continued.  Is  this  illegal  on  the  part  of  the  defendants?  Not  in 
the  sense  of  being  criminal  and  punishable  as  such;  for,  in  my 
judgment,  the  case  does  not,  as  seems  to  be  assumed  by  some  in 
similar  cases,  require  an  expression  of  opinion  on  that  point  for 
two  reasons:  First.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  criminal  and  civil  reme- 
dies for  acts  the  result  of  a  conspiracy  spring  from  different  sources; 
for  while  the  statute  in  the  former  now  requires  an  overt  act,  at 
common  law  the  act  of  conspiring  constituted  the  crime.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  injury  done  intentionally,  and  without  legal  excuse, 

1  New  Jersey,  Court  of  Chancery,  Barr  et  al.  v.  Essex  Trades  Council  et  al., 
53  N.  J.  Eq.  Reports,  101  (1894). 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       171 

or  maliciously,  is  the  gist  of  the  civil  remedy.  Second.  And,  as  a 
consequence,  while  it  is  a  short,  proper,  and  effective  way  to  dis- 
pose of  a  claim  of  defendants  that  their  act  was  in  the  exercise  of  a 
legal  right,  to  show  that  it  was  criminal,  the  jurisdiction  of  this 
court  to  interfere  by  injunction  cannot  be  based  on  any  such  con- 
clusion, but  must  arise  from  conditions  which  involve  well-estab- 
lished grounds  of  equity  jurisdiction.  When,  therefore,  the  question 
is  here  asked  if  causing  injury  to  the  complainant's  business  is 
illegal,  it  is  meant,  Is  it  an  actionable  wrong?  That  is,  Has  the  com- 
plainant a  remedy  by  civil  action  against  the  defendants  therefor, 
or  are  the  defendants  privileged  to  do  the  acts  charged  in  the  man- 
ner and  under  the  circumstances  complained  of,  even  though  the 
natural  result  thereof  be  an  injury  to  complainant's  business?  On 
the  solution  of  this  question  depends  the  claim  of  the  defendants 
that  they  have  acted  within  their  legal  rights.  .  .  .  Are  the  defend- 
ants, then,  privileged  knowingly  to  inflict  this  injury  on  the  com- 
plainants? A  man's  business  is  property.  By  the  first  section  of 
the  bill  of  rights  of  the  constitution  of  New  Jersey,  the  right  of 
acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting  property  is  classed  as  a  natu- 
ral and  inalienable  right  which  all  men  have,  with  those  of  enjoying 
and  defending  life  and  liberty,  and  of  pursuing  and  obtaining  safety 
and  happiness. 

.  .  .  This  freedom  of  business  action  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
all  commercial  and  industrial  enterprise.  Men  are  willing  to  embark 
capital,  time,  and  experience  therein,  because  they  can  confidently 
assume  that  they  will  be  able  to  control  their  affairs  according  to 
their  own  ideas,  when  the  same  are  not  in  conflict  with  law.  If  this 
privilege  is  denied  them,  if  the  courts  cannot  protect  them  from 
interference  by  those  who  are  not  interested  with  them,  if  the 
management  of  business  is  to  be  taken  from  the  owner  and  assumed 
by  (it  may  be)  irresponsible  strangers,  then  we  will  have  to  come  to 
the  time  when  capital  will  seek  other  than  industrial  channels  for 
investments,  when  enterprise  and  development  will  be  crippled, 
when  interstate  railroads,  canals,  and  means  of  transportation  will 
become  dependent  on  the  paternalism  of  the  national  government, 
and  the  factory  and  the  workshop  subject  to  the  uncertain  chances 
of  cooperative  systems. 

The  bare  declaration  by  the  Typographical  Union  that  it  no 
longer  recognized  the  Newark  Times  was,  according  to  Mr.  Beck- 
meyer's  affidavit,  sufficient  under  this  perfect  organization  to  ren- 
der it  incumbent  upon  every  member  of  these  different  unions  to 


172         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

withhold  his  patronage  from  it.  Not  only  this,  but  by  the  passage 
of  the  resolutions  mentioned  by  the  different  unions  and  the  distri- 
bution thereof  among  advertisers,  a  moral  intimidation  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  latter  to  further  cripple  the  paper,  either  by  wholly 
withdrawing  their  advertisements  or  by  leaving  spaces,  a  most 
effective  method  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  paper  was 
under  the  ban  of  organized  labor.  Why  this  action?  It  must  have 
had  a  purpose.  None  of  the  different  labor  organizations,  or  the 
members  thereof,  except  the  Typographical  Union  No.  103,  had  or 
has  any  grievance  against  the  complainant.  Their  action,  in  the 
language  of  the  times,  was  purely  sympathetic.  As  to  the  Typo- 
graphical Union,  its  members  had  no  complaint  against  Mr.  Barr, 
except  that  he  used  certain  appliances  which  were  not  acceptable 
to  the  union.  He  paid  the  wages  fixed  by,  and  employed  only 
members  of,  the  union.  The  withdrawal  of  certain  of  the  members 
from  his  employment  was  solely  because  he  chose  to  use  plate 
matter  interdicted  by  the  union,  and  it  is  plain  if  the  complainant 
would  forego  his  own  judgment  in  the  management  of  his  business 
in  this  regard  and  comply  with  the  wishes  and  determination  of  the 
Typographical  Union  with  reference  thereto,  all  matters  being  as 
they  were,  the  whole  difficulty  would  be  at  an  end.  To  effect  this 
purpose,  therefore,  the  Typographical  Union,  through  the  Trades 
Council,  enlisted  the  cooperation  of  the  other  organizations  in  an 
attempt  to  so  impair  the  success  of  the  newspaper  that  the  complain- 
ant would  be  forced  to  accept  the  alternative  proposed  rather  than 
sustain  the  loss. 

We  return  to  the  question  whether  defendants'  acts  are  action- 
able. Malicious  injury  to  the  business  of  another  has  long  been 
held  to  give  a  right  of  action  to  the  injured  party. 

.  .  .  The  right  of  action  depends,  then,  not  so  much  upon  the 
nature  of  the  act  as  upon  the  intent  with  which  it  is  done,  always 
assuming  that  injury  has  attended  the  doing  of  it.  ... 

This  renders  necessary  an  inquiry  as  to  the  intent  of  the  defend- 
ants, to  ascertain  if  the  case  falls  within  the  class  in  which  it  is  held 
that  a  malicious  motive  in  the  defendant  may  make  an  act  which 
would  not  be  wrongful  without  the  malice  a  wrongful  act  when  done 
with  malice  (Steamship  Company  v.  McGregor,  23  Q.  B.  Div.  598-608). 
From  the  authorities,  the  test  is,  Has  the  injury  been  inflicted  inten- 
tionally and  without  legal  excuse?  When  we  speak,  in  this  connec- 
tion, of  an  act  done  with  a  malicious*  motive,  it  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that  the  defendants  were  actuated  in  their  proceedings  by 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       173 

spite  or  malice  against  the  complainant,  Mr.  Barr,  in  the  sense  that 
their  motive  was  to  injure  him  personally,  but  that  they  desired  to 
injure  him  in  his  business,  in  order  to  force  him  not  to  do  what  he 
had  a  perfect  right  to  do.  In  this  case  the  defendants  have,  I  doubt 
not,  no  personal  spite  against  Mr.  Barr  individually  and  no  desire  to 
do  him  a  personal  injury.  Nor  do  I  suppose  they  wish  to  perma- 
nently injure  his  enterprise,  for  they  undoubtedly  want  reemployment 
for  those  who  left  him.  They  only  wish,  by  crippling  his  business, 
to  compel  him  to  accede  to  their  views  as  to  materials  he  shall  use 
in  the  make-up  of  his  paper.  They  in  fact  claim  that  they  had  no 
intention  to  injure  the  business  of  the  complainant,  and  that  their 
only  desire  was  for  the  protection  of  themselves.  If  the  injury  which 
has  been  sustained  or  which  is  threatened  is  not  only  the  natural 
but  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the  defendants'  acts,  it  is  without 
effect  for  them  to  disclaim  the  intention  to  injure.  What  other  result 
than  injury  could  ensue  to  the  business  of  the  Newark  Times,  pub- 
lished and  circulated  in  Newark  and  its  vicinity,  if  organizations  of 
individuals  representing  there  a  purchasing  power  of  $400,000  a 
week,  each  and  every  one  not  only  determined  not  only  not  to  pat- 
ronize the  paper  or  to  buy  it,  but  by  resolutions  passed  in  their 
various  organizations  call  upon  the  trading  community  to  cease 
advertising  in  it,  with  implied  threats  that  the  appearance  of  an 
advertisement  by  a  tradesman  in  the  paper  would  be  a  warning  to 
the  members  of  the  organization  to  avoid  trading  with  such  persons  ? 
Loss  of  business  is  the  only  natural  result  to  be  expected  from  such 
a  condition  of  affairs,  and,  if  continued,  the  failure  of  the  enterprise 
would  seem  to  be  inevitable.  .  .  . 

The  next  inquiry  is,  Have  the  defendants  a  legal  excuse  for  doing 
the  acts  which  have  occasioned  and  threaten  further  damage  to  the 
complainant's  business?  It  is  claimed  that  the  term  "boycott,"  as 
used  in  the  circular  and  publications,  has  not  the  offensive  significa- 
tion sought  to  be  placed  upon  it  by  the  complainant's  bill;  "that  it 
does  not  in  any  way  mean,  indicate,  or  imply  any  threats,  violence, 
intimidation,  or  coercive  action  on  the  part  of  the  said  defendants, 
or  any  or  either  of  them,  or  the  members  of  any  such  organiza- 
tion; that  such  word  has  a  technical  meaning  in  the  said  labor 
organizations,  and  simply  expresses  and  implies  that  the  members 
of  the  said  organizations  should  simply  refrain  from  trading  or 
dealing  with  those  persons  who  oppose  such  organizations  by  their 
own  actions  and  doings;  that  the  use  of  the  word  is  not  intended, 
and  does  not,  in  fact,  encourage,  advise,  or  urge  in  any  manner, 


174         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

whether  violent  or  otherwise,  attacks  upon  or  against  the  said  news- 
paper, or  any  person  or  business,  but  merely  advises  and  encourages 
those  who  have  earned  their  money  by  giving  their  services  and 
labor  to  spend  such  money  among  those  who  are  friendly  to  fair 
trade  and  fair  dealings  and  are  in  sympathy  with  the  efforts  of 
organized  labor  to  advance  its  own  interests  and  welfare  by  peace- 
able, proper,  and  lawful  means,  and  not  otherwise";  and  further, 
"that  of  his  own  knowledge,  obtained  from  long  intercourse  and 
association  with  the  various  labor  organizations,  there  is  nothing  in 
the  use  of  the  word  '  boycott '  calculated  or  intended  to  intimidate 
or  incite  violence,  or  induce  to  coercive  measures,  or  indicate  any 
threat,  and  that  its  meaning  is  universally  understood  in  the  said 
organizations  to  have  no  other  or  greater  effect  than  above  stated," 
—  from  which  it  is  to  be  gathered  that  the  use  of  the  word  "boy- 
cott "  in  the  publications,  as  applied  to  the  Times,  would  be  regarded 
by  the  members  of  the  various  unions  to  mean  only  that  they  should 
refrain  from  trading  or  dealing  with  the  complainant  and  with 
those  who  oppose  the  organizations  in  their  actions  and  doings  with 
reference  to  the  complainant.  I  do  not  see  that  this  changes  the 
character  of  the  injury,  but  even  if  it  does  so  far  as  the  members  of 
the  organizations  are  concerned,  the  difficulty  is  that  these  com- 
munications were  addressed  to  the  public  and  indiscriminately 
circulated.  They  were  intended  not  only  for  members  of  the  order 
by  whom  a  technical  signification  would  be  given  to  the  word 
"boycott,"  but  for  the  general  public,  who  would  read  them  and 
give  the  word  its  accepted  meaning.  ...  All  the  organizations 
represented  in  the  trades  council,  and  the  individual  members 
thereof,  in  strict  conformity  with  the  purpose  and  object  for  which 
the  said  council  was  organized,  withheld  this  patronage  from  the 
said  newspaper  on  the  mere  announcement  by  the  Typographical 
Union  to  the  trades  council  that  that  union  had  withdrawn  its 
indorsement  from  the  Times.  Why?  It  is  said  that  it  was  only 
the  exercise  by  each  member  of  his  right  to  spend  his  money  as  his 
own  will  dictated.  The  fallacy  of  this  is  apparent.  It  loses  sight 
of  the  combination,  the  whole  strength  of  which  lies  in  the  fact 
that  each  individual  has  surrendered  his  own  discretion  and  will  to 
the  direction  of  the  accredited  representatives  of  all  the  organiza- 
tions. He  no  longer  uses  his  own  judgment,  but  by  entering  into 
the  combination  agrees  to  be  bound  by  its  decree.  ...  It  is  com- 
mon knowledge,  if,  indeed,  it  does  not  amply  so  appear  by  the 
papers  in  this  case,  that  a  member  of  a  labor  organization  who 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       175 

does  not  submit  to  the  edict  of  his  union  asserts  his  independence 
of  judgment  and  action  at  the  risk,  if  not  the  absolute  sacrifice,  of 
all  association  with  his  fellow-members.  They  will  not  eat,  drink, 
live,  or  work  in  his  company.  Branded  by  the  peculiarly  offensive 
epithets  adopted,  he  must  exist  ostracized,  socially  and  industrially, 
so  far  as  his  former  associates  are  concerned.  Freedom  of  will 
under  such  circumstances  cannot  be  expected. 

Next,  as  to  the  advertising  public.  Tradesmen  advertise  in  news- 
papers for  the  sole  purpose  of  drawing  customers  to  their  stores.  An 
authoritative  announcement,  not  from  one  but  from  many  sources, 
that  the  body  of  organized  labor  in  the  city  or  county,  representing 
a  purchasing  power  of  $400,000  a  week,  would  cease  to  deal  with 
those  whose  advertisements  appeared  in  the  newspaper  would  have 
a  much  more  deterrent  effect  than  any  threat  of  violence.  To  say 
that  this  is  only  advice  or  an  intimation  to  the  advertiser  for  his 
guidance,  if  he  sees  fit  to  accept  it,  is  trifling  with  the  language. 
Advice  behind  which  lurks  the  threat  of  the  withdrawal  of  such 
a  volume  of  business  could  have  no  other  effect  than  to  intimi- 
date and  coerce,  as  it  did  in  fact  make  several  change  their  judg- 
ment, which  had  previously  led  them  to  advertise  in  the  paper.  The 
claim  that  this  boycott  was  attempted  to  be  enforced  without  intimi- 
dation or  coercion  will  not  bear  the  light  of  examination. 

A  legal  excuse  for  the  action  of  the  defendants  is  next  sought  in 
the  claim  that  the  Essex  Trades  Council  is  a  business  institution, 
and  that  what  it  has  done  has  been  in  prosecution  of  such  business; 
seeking,  I  suppose,  to  bring  the  case  within  the  rule  of  Steamship  Com- 
pany v.  McGregor.  That  case  proceeded  on  the  doctrine  of  a  lawful 
competition  in  business,  both  parties  being  engaged  in  carrying  on 
the  same  character  of  business,  and  the  acts  complained  of  having 
been  adopted  for  the  advancement  of  the  defendant's  own  trade,  viz., 
carrying  goods  on  a  steamship  line,  although  thereby  damage  to  the 
other  party  necessarily  ensued.  I  see  no  similarity  in  the  business 
of  these  parties.  That  of  the  complainant  is  the  publisher  of  a  news- 
paper. Members  of  the  Typographical  Union  and  Stereotypers'  and 
Pressmen's  Union  are  skilled  workmen,  whose  services  might  be  em- 
ployed in  such  business,  but  they  are  not  carrying  on  any  enterprise 
in  competition  with  that  of  the  complainant.  So  far  as  the  other 
unions  are  concerned,  the  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  have  no  connec- 
tion with  such  trade.  Neither  does  the  claim  of  the  Essex  Trades 
Council  that  it  is  a  business  institution  stand  on  any  firmer  ground. 
The  only  element  of  business  which  it  is  engaged  in  would  appear 


176         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

from  the  facts  to  be  the  furnishing  to  tradesmen  of  printed  cards, 
certifying  that  they  are  proper  persons  for  the  members  of  trades 
unions  to  deal  with,  suitable  to  be  displayed  in  conspicuous  places 
in  such  tradesmen's  places  of  business.  This  was  supplemented  by 
the  issue  under  date  of  March  31,  1894,  of  the  small  pocket  pam- 
phlet, entitled  "The  Fair  List  of  Newark,  N.J.,"  containing  the 
names  and  addresses  of  tradesmen  and  persons  in  business  in 
Newark,  with  items  of  information  and  advice.  Why  this  is  called 
a  "  business  "  does  not  appear.  It  is  not  stated  that  any  compen- 
sation is  either  required  or  received  by  the  Trades  Council  from  the 
tradespeople  for  granting  or  continuing  these  indorsements,  but 
whether  this  is  so  or  not,  it  is  in  no  sense  a  competing  business 
with  the  publication  of  a  daily  newspaper,  and  therefore  does  not 
come  within  the  principle  of  the  case  referred  to. 

It  appearing  that  injury  to  the  business  of  the  complainant  has 
been  knowingly,  without  legal  excuse,  and  therefore  in  law  mali- 
ciously, inflicted  by  the  defendants,  it  was  an  actionable  wrong,  for 
which  the  complainant  is  entitled  to  his  remedy ;  and  that  brings  us 
to  the  question  raised  by  the  answer,  and  most  strongly  insisted  upon 
by  counsel  in  the  argument,  as  to  whether  this  court  has  jurisdiction 
to  grant  relief  by  way  of  injunction.  Even  when  there  is  a  legal 
remedy,  equity  will  interfere  by  injunction  to  prevent  (i)  an  injury 
which  threatens  irreparable  damage,  or  (2)  a  continuing  injury  when 
the  legal  remedy  therefor  may  involve  a  multiplicity  of  suits.  This  / 
jurisdiction  is  established  and  unquestionable.  In  practice,  they 
criterion  of  its  application  is  the  inadequacy  of  the  legal  remedy, 
depending  on  whether  (i)  "the  injury  done  or  threatened  is  of  such 
a  nature  that,  when  accomplished,  the  property  cannot  be  restored 
to  its  original  condition  or  cannot  be  replaced  by  means  of  compen- 
sation in  money " ;  (2)  whether  full  compensation  for  the  entire 
wrong  can  be  obtained  without  resort  to  a  number  of  suits.  (3  Pom. 
Eq.  Jur.  §§  1338,  1346,  1357.)  The  difficulty  of  satisfactorily  estimat- 
ing damages  to  business  is  frequently  recognized  in  applying  those 
principles  to  suits  relating  to  good  will,  trade-marks,  patent  rights, 
and  copyrights.  The  complainant's  paper  is  published  daily.  While 
no  one  has  a  right  to  be  hedged  in  and  protected  from  competition  in 
business,  every  one  is  entitled  to  a  chance  for  the  patronage  of  the 
public,  uninfluenced  by  malicious  interference  to  excite  prejudice,  — 
"  a  right  to  require  that  the  course  of  trade  should  be  kept  free  from 
unreasonable  obstruction."  Representations  calculated  to  reduce  the 
paper's  circulation  with  the  public  or  to  influence  by  fear  of  loss  of 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       177 

customers  the  number  or  extent  of  advertisements  operate  not  once  for 
all  but,  as  it  were,  day  by  day,  as  the  paper  goes  to  and  comes  from 
the  press,  and  each  loss  will  be  a  distinctive  cause  of  action.  No  more 
vulnerable  object  could  be  presented  for  the  operation  of  a  boycott 
than  the  advertising  columns  of  a  newspaper.  They  bear  on  their 
face  the  only  information  necessary  as  to  the  salient  points  of  attack. 
To  successfully  appeal  to  a  legal  tribunal  for  redress  for  such  injury 
as  is  here  shown  would  involve  either  waiting  until  all  the  damage 
was  done,  or  the  bringing  of  innumerable  suits  successively,  as  the 
damage  was  ascertainable.  While  the  combination  of  the  defendants 
does  not  constitute  complainant's  right  of  action  to  recover  redress 
for  injury  inflicted  on  his  business,  it  has  great  bearing  on  the  extent 
of  the  damage  thereto  which  may  be  threatened  by  defendants'  con- 
duct. There  would  be  no  difficulty  for  complainant  to  successfully 
defend  his  enterprise  from  the  attacks  of  one  or  more  individuals. 
This  is  the  common  expectation  of  every  one  who  embarks  in  any 
business.  But  when  opposition  through  the  agency  of  already  estab- 
lished organizations,  reaching  in  their  locality  every  part  of  the 
county  and  in  their  membership  almost  every  industry  in  prominent 
operation,  comprising  in  the  territory  in  which  the  paper  must  look 
for  its  support  operatives  of  a  purchasing  power  of  $400,000  a  week, 
is  put  on  foot;  when  such  an  organization,  not  satisfied  with  its 
potential  authority  over  its  own  members,  appeals  to  the  public  to 
boycott  the  paper,  to  cease  buying  or  advertising  in  it,  with  the 
significant  suggestion  that  disregard  of  the  appeal  will  bring  upon 
such  person  the  like  opposition  of  the  organizations,  —  who  can  esti- 
mate or  approximate  the  natural  damage  short  of  ruin  ?  The  legal 
remedy  in  this  case  thus  not  only  involves  multiplicity  of  suits  but 
the  threatened  damage  seems  irreparable.  Authority  is  not  wanting 
that  a  court  of  equity  will  enjoin  a  boycott.  Being  itself  a  proceeding 
of  modern  origin,  of  course  no  cases  are  to  be  found  until  recent 
years.  [Cases  cited.]  The  said  order  to  show  cause  must  be  made 
absolute,  with  costs;  and  an  injunction  may  issue  against  them, 
restraining  them  from  distributing  or  circulating  any  circulars,  printed 
resolutions,  bulletins,  or  other  publications  containing  appeals  or 
threats  against  the  Newark  Times  or  the  complainants,  its  publishers, 
with  the  design  and  tending  to  interfere  with  his  business  in  pub- 
lishing said  paper,  and  from  making  any  threats  or  using  any  intim- 
idation to  the  dealers  or  advertisers  in  such  newspaper  tending  to 
cause  them  to  withdraw  their  business  from  such  newspaper. 


178         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


IV.   BOYCOTT  —  FREE  SPEECH  1 

The  clothing  company  here  named  sought  by  injunction  to 
prevent  Watson  and  his  associates  from  declaring  or  enforcing 
a  boycott  against  it  by  inducing  its  customers  and  others  who 
might  become  such  not  to  deal  with  it  to  the  injury  of  its  busi- 
ness. A  temporary  injunction  was  granted,  but  on  a  hearing  in 
the  St.  Louis  Circuit  Court  this  injunction  was  dissolved  and  the 
petition  dismissed.  The  company  then  appealed  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  affirmed  the  action  of  the  court  below. 

Marx  &  Haas  had  had  trouble  with  their  clothing  cutters  for 
some  years,  resulting  first  in  a  boycott  by  the  Knights  of  Labor 
in  1895,  and  again  in  1898  in  a  boycott  undertaken  by  a  joint 
board  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  the  United  Garment  Workers 
of  America,  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 
In  furtherance  of  this  latter  effort  a  circular  reciting  at  some 
length  the  various  difficulties  and  grievances  was  issued,  and 
distributed  freely  among  the  patrons  and  possible  patrons  of 
the  firm.  This  circular  concluded  : 

We  are  positive  we  have  proven  to  you  the  justice  of  our  position, 
and  we  hope  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  inform  the  labor  and  reform 
organizations  with  which  we  are  affiliated  who  are  in  your  locality, 
as  we  are  satisfied  we  have  convinced  you  that  the  stand  we  have 
taken  in  this  case  is  a  just  one  and  will  command  the  support  of 
all  fair-minded  men.  We  therefore  request  you  to  write  to  Messrs. 
Marx  &  Haas  and  inform  them  that  you  would  request  them  to 
settle  the  dispute  with  their  employees,  or  otherwise  you  cannot 
afford  to  handle  their  goods  as  long  as  they  are  antagonizing 
organized  labor,  who  are  your  friends  and  customers.  By  doing 
this  you  will  aid  us  in  getting  simple  justice  from  this  more  than 
unfair  firm.  Should  this  firm  make  a  settlement  with  us,  you  will 
be  informed  of  the  fact  under  the  seals  of  the  joint  organizations. 
Until  such  time  we  trust  there  will  be  no  report  made  to  our  office 
that  Marx  &  Haas  have  shipped  you  any  more  goods.  Kindly 
inform  us  what  action  you  take  in  this  matter,  and  any  further 

1  Missouri  Supreme  Court,  Marx  &°  Haas  Jeans  Clothing  Company  v.  Watson 
eta/.,  168  Mo.  133  (1901). 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       179 

information  you  may  desire  will  be  cheerfully  furnished  by  writing 
to  headquarters  of  joint  executive  board,  No.  911  Pine  Street, 
St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

In  addition  to  the  sending  of  this  circular,  committees  visited 
various  merchants  in  St.  Louis  and  vicinity  to  present  the 
matter  more  fully,  and  in  some  instances  threats  were  made  by 
members  of  these  committees  that  the  patronage  of  the  boy- 
cotters  and  their  friends  would  be  withheld  from  certain  mer- 
chants unless  they  discontinued  their  business  dealings  with 
the  clothing  company.  In  no  instance,  however,  were  there 
threats  of  resort  to  violence  or  unlawful  intimidation. 

The  petition  of  the  clothing  company  concluded  with  the 
request  that 

the  defendants,  their  associates,  confederates,  agents,  and  repre- 
sentatives be  enjoined  and  restrained  by  a  temporary  order  of 
injunction,  to  be  made  final  upon  the  hearing  of  this  cause,  from 
boycotting,  or  making  effectual,  promulgating,  or  in  any  wise  pro- 
claiming, any  boycott  upon  or  against  the  plaintiff  or  its  goods, 
and  from  sending,  conveying,  or  delivering  in  any  way  to  any 
person,  firm,  corporation,  or  association  any  boycott  notice,  verbal 
or  otherwise,  referring  to  the  plaintiff  or  its  goods,  and  from  in  any 
way  menacing,  hindering,  or  obstructing  the  plaintiff  from  the 
fullest  enjoyment  of  all  the  patronage,  business,  and  custom  which 
it  may  possess,  enjoy,  or  acquire  independent  of  the  action  of  the 
said  defendants  or  any  of  them. 

Judge  Sherwood  announced  the  opinion  of  the  court.  After 
stating  the  above  facts  and  reviewing  the  evidence  given  before 
the  court  below  he  disposed  of  the  question  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  case.  Proceeding  to  the  points  in 
issue,  he  said  : 

Section  14  of  our  bill  of  rights  declares  that  "no  law  shall  be 
passed  impairing  the  freedom  of  speech  ;  that  every  person  shall 
be  free  to  say,  write,  or  publish  whatever  he  will  on  any  subject, 
being  responsible  for  all  abuse  of  that  liberty."  The  evident  idea 
of  that  section  is  penalty  or  punishment,  and  not  prevention.  Because, 
if  prevention  exists,  then  no  opportunity  can  possibly  arise  for  one 
becoming  responsible  by  saying,  writing,  or  publishing  "whatever 


l8o        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

he  will  on  any  subject."  The  two  ideas  —  the  one  of  absolute  free- 
dom "  to  say,  write,  or  publish  whatever  he  will  on  any  subject," 
coupled  with  responsibility  therefor,  and  the  other  idea  of  preventing 
any  such  free  speech,  free  writing,  or  free  publication  —  cannot  coexist. 

And  just  here  it  must  be  observed  that  the  right  of  free  speech, 
free  writing,  or  free  publication  were  not  created  by  the  constitution, 
which  recognizes  those  rights  as  now  existing  and  only  seeks  their 
protection  and  perpetuation.  .  .  .  Section  14,  supra,  makes  no  dis- 
tinction and  authorizes  no  difference  to  be  made  by  courts  or  legis- 
latures between  a  proceeding  set  on  foot  to  enjoin  the  publication 
of  a  //#i/and  one  to  enjoin  the  publication  of  any  other  sort  or  nature, 
however  injurious  it  may  be,  or  to  prohibit  the  use  of  free  speech 
or  free  writing  on  any  subject  whatever ;  because,  wherever  the 
authority  of  injunction  begins,  there  the  right  of  free  speech,  free 
writing,  or  free  publication  ends.  No  halfway  house  stands  on  the 
highway  between  absolute  prevention  and  absolute  freedom.  The  rights 
established  by  Section  14  can  neither  be  impaired  by  the  legis- 
lature, nor  hampered  nor  denied  by  the  courts. 

Nor  does  it  in  any  way  change  the  complexion  of  this  case  by 
reason  of  its  being  alleged  in  the  petition  "that  the  defendants, 
and  each  of  them,  is  without  means  and  has  no  property  over  and 
above  the  exemption  allowed  by  law  wherefrom  the  plaintiff  might 
secure  satisfaction  for  the  damages  resulting  to  it  from  the  acts 
aforesaid."  The  constitution  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  The  impe- 
cunious man  "  who  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head  "  has  as  good 
right  to  free  speech,  etc.,  as  has  the  wealthiest  man  in  the  com- 
munity. The  right  to  enjoin  in  the  former's  case  is  precisely  the 
same  as  in  the  latter's  ;  no  greater,  no  less.  In  short,  the  exercise 
of  the  right  of  free  speech,  etc.,  is  as  free  from  outside  interference  or 
restriction  as  if  no  civil  recovery  could  be  had  or  punishment  inflicted 
because  of  its  unwarranted  exercise. 

And  in  this  connection  it  is  to  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that 
the  principle  is  firmly  rooted  in  equity  jurisprudence  that,  though 
there  be  no  remedy  at  law,  this  does  not  necessarily  and  of  itself 
give  a  court  of  equity  jurisdiction  to  afford  relief.  The  authority  to 
enjoin  finds  no  better  harbor  in  the  empty  pocket  of  the  poor  man 
than  in  the  full  pocket  of  the  rich  man.  And  such  authority  to 
enjoin  can  have  no  existence  in  circumstances  such  as  the  present 
case  presents,  if  the  constitution  is  to  be  obeyed. 

If  these  defendants  are  not  permitted  to  tell  the  story  of  their 
wrongs,  or,  if  you  please,  their  supposed  wrongs,  by  word  of  mouth 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       181 

or  with  pen  or  print,  and  to  endeavor  to  persuade  others  to  aid 
them  by  all  peaceable  means  in  securing  redress  of  such  wrongs, 
what  becomes  of  free  speech  and  what  of  personal  liberty  ?  The  fact  that 
in  exercising  that  freedom  they  thereby  do  plaintiff  an  actionable 
injury,  such  fact  does  not  go  a  hair  toward  a  diminution  of  their 
right  of  free  speech,  etc.,  for  the  exercise  of  which,  if  resulting  in 
such  injury,  the  constitution  makes  them  expressly  responsible. 
But  such  responsibility  is  utterly  incompatible  with  authority  in  a 
court  of  equity  to  prevent  such  responsibility  from  occurring. 

Judge  Sherwood  then  stated  that  the  question  of  the  power 
of  the  court  to  enjoin  in  cases  of  intimidation,  threats  of  vio- 
lence, or  of  destruction  of  property  was  not  passed  upon,  as  not 
being  involved  in  the  record,  and  concluded  : 

Holding  these  views,  we  affirm  the  decree  of  dismissal  entered  in 
favor  of  defendants  by  the  court  below. 

Judge  Robinson  dissented  from  the  above. 

V.  BLACKLIST  * 

- 

This  is  a  bill  brought  by  Boyer  and  others  to  procure  an 
injunction  against  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  pro- 
hibiting the  discharge  of  employees  on  account  of  membership 
in  the  Commercial  Telegraphers'  Union,  and  also  prohibiting 
the  maintenance  by  said  company  of  a  black  list.  The  bill  also 
alleged  that  the  company  had  conspired  to  destroy  the  Teleg- 
raphers' Union.  The  injunction  was  denied.  The  points  in- 
volved were  discussed  in  the  following  manner  by  Judge  Rogers, 
who  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court : 

The  first  cause  of  complaint  is  that  plaintiffs  have  been  dis- 
charged without  notice  from  the  service  of  the  defendant  from  no 
other  cause  than  that  they  joined  that  union.  But  the  answer  to 
that  complaint  is,  that  in  a  free  country  like  ours  every  employee,  in 
the  absence  of  contractual  relations  binding  him  to  work  for  his 
employer  a  given  length  of  time,  has  the  legal  right  to  quit  the 
service  of  his  employer  without  notice  and  either  with  or  without 
cause  at  any  time  ;  and  in  the  absence  of  such  contractual  relations 

1  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Missouri,  Boyer  et  al. 
v.  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  124  Fed.  Rep.  246  (1903). 


1 82         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

any  employer  may  legally  discharge  his  employee  with  or  without 
notice  at  any  time.  The  second  ground  for  complaint  is  that 
defendant,  its  officers  and  agents,  have  unlawfully  combined  and 
confederated  together  to  destroy  the  said  union,  and  intend  dis- 
charging all  the  members  of  said  union  from  the  service  of  the 
defendant,  and  by  threats,  intimidation,  and  coercion,  and  other- 
wise, are  interfering  with  the  plaintiffs  and  with  others  of  their 
employees  for  uniting  with  the  union,  and  are  seeking  to  prevent 
those  discharged  from  obtaining  employment.  I  need  not  take  time 
to  multiply  authorities  to  show  that  there  is  no  such  thing  in  law  as 
a  conspiracy  to  do  a  lawful  thing.  If  the  last  allegation  means  any- 
thing, it  is  that  the  defendant,  its  officers  and  agents,  have  con- 
spired to  destroy  the  union  by  discharging  all  its  members  in  its 
employ  and  refusing  to  employ  others  solely  for  the  reason  that 
they  were  members  of  the  union.  But  it  is  not  unlawful,  in  the 
absence  of  contractual  relations  to  the  contrary,  to  discharge  them 
for  that  or  for  any  other  reason,  or  for  no  reason  at  all.  Hence 
there  is  no  such  thing  in  law  as  a  conspiracy  to  do  that,  and  it 
matters  not  whether  you  call  such  an  agreement  a  conspiracy,  a 
combination,  or  a  confederation. 

True,  it  is  alleged  that  defendant,  its  officers  and  agents,  unlaw- 
fully combined  and  confederated  to  destroy  the  union.  But  what  is 
unlawful  is  a  question  of  law ;  whether  a  thing  done  is  unlawful 
depends  on  what  is  done  or  threatened  to  be  done.  But  what  the 
defendant  company,  its  officers  and  agents,  combined  or  confederated 
to  do  in  order  to  destroy  the  union  is  the  precise  thing  the  complaint 
fails  to  show.  The  court  must  always  be  able  to  look  at  the  facts  and 
say  that  if  these  facts  are  true  they  are  illegal ;  otherwise  there  is  no 
ground  for  invoking  its  protective  agency. 

But  it  is  said  that  defendant  maintains  a  black  list  containing  a  list 
of  names  of  such  persons  as  may  have  incurred  its  displeasure  and 
have  been  discharged  from  its  service,  and  that  by  methods  not 
known  to  them  it  prevents  such  discharged  persons  from  getting 
employment  as  telegraph  operators;  that  they  have  blacklisted 
people  solely  because  they  belong  to  the  union,  and  that  they  intend 
to  blacklist  others  for  the  same  thing,  etc.  We  have  seen  it  is  not 
unlawful  to  discharge  plaintiffs  because  they  belong  to  the  union.  Is 
it  unlawful  for  defendant  to  keep  a  book  showing  that  they  were  dis- 
charged because  they  belonged  to  the  union  ?  The  union  presumably, 
and  especially  in  view  of  the  allegations  in  the  bill,  is  an  honorable, 
reputable,  and  useful  organization,  intended  to  better  the  conditions 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES      183 

and  elevate  the  character  of  its  members.  Is  it  illegal  for  defendant 
to  keep  a  book  showing  that  it  had  discharged  members  of  such  a 
union  solely  because  they  belong  to  it  ?  That  seems  to  be  the  real 
essence  of  the  bill.  Is  it  illegal  to  notify  others  that  it  keeps  such  a 
book  and  that  they  can  inspect  it,  or  to  inform  others  what  such 
a  book  shows  ?  That  seems  to  be  the  ground  of  complaint.  There 
can  be  no  question  about  it ;  the  positive,  direct,  and  unequivocal 
allegation  is  that  defendant  keeps  such  a  book ;  that  plaintiffs  are 
placed  on  it  solely  because  they  belong  to  the  union  and  have  been 
discharged  solely  because  they  did  belong  to  the  union.  Can  a  court 
of  equity  grant  relief  to  a  man  who  says  for  his  cause  of  action  that 
he  belongs  to  a  reputable  organization  and  that  he  has  been  dis- 
charged solely  because  he  did  belong  to  it ;  that  his  employer  who 
discharged  him  keeps  a  book  on  which  is  placed  his  name  and  has 
set  opposite  thereto  the  fact  that  he  discharged  him  solely  because  he 
belonged  to  such  organization;  and  that  he  gives. that  information 
to  other  persons,  who  refuse  to  employ  him  on  that  account?  Sup- 
pose a  man  should  file  a  bill  alleging  that  he  belonged  to  the  Hon- 
orable and  Ancient  Order  of  Freemasons,  or  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  or  to  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic ;  that  his  employer 
had  discharged  him  solel^jpn  that  account ;  that  he  had  discharged 
others  of  his  employees  afd  intended  to  discharge  all  of  them.for 
the  same  reason  ;  that  he  kept  a  book  which  contained  all  the  names 
of  such  discharged  persons  and  set  opposite  the  name  of  each  dis- 
charged person  the  fact  that  he  had  been  discharged  solely  on  the 
ground  that  he  belonged  to  such  organization  ;  and  that  he  had  given 
such  information  to  others,  who  refused  to  employ  such  persons  on 
that  account.  Is  it  possible  a  court  of  equity  could  grant  relief  ?  If 
so,  pray,  on  what  grouncA  And  yet  that  is  a  perfectly  parallel  case 
to  this  as  made  by  the  bi* 

•'".  |i 

VI.    EMPLOYMENT  OF  NONUNIONISTS  v 

The  present  position  of  the  law  in  American  states  on  the 
right  of  a  union  to  refuse  to  work  with  nonunion  men  is  set 
forth  in  an  article  by  Bruce  Wyman,  on  "  The  Maintenance  of 
the  Open  Shop,"  1  from  which  the  following  summary  is  taken: 

Whatever  weight  may  be  given  to  those  two  decisions  as  authority 
[National  Protective  Assn.  v.  Cumming  (New  York)  and  Clemmett  v. 

<%  *  Green  Bag,  Vol.  XVII,  1905,  pp.  21-29. 


1 84         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Watson  (Indiana)],  they  represent  the  view  of  the  minority.  The 
contrary  holding  undoubtedly  has  the  majority.  That  the  nonunion 
man  is  protected  against  the  union  is  the  law  of  the  following  juris- 
dictions at  least:  Maine,  Perkins  v.  Pendleton,  90  Me.  166  (1897); 
Maryland,  Lucke  v.  Clothing  Cutters  Assembly,  77  Md.  396  (1893)  ; 
Massachusetts,  Plant  v.  Woods,  176  Mass.  492  (1900);  Pennsyl- 
vania, Erdman  v.  Mitchell,  207  Pa.  79  (1903).  In  the  following  juris- 
dictions the  issue  is  in  doubt:  England,  Allen  v.  Flood '(1898),  A.  C.i, 
and  Perrault  v.  Gauthier,  28  Can.  Sup.  241  (1899),  are  for  the  union, 
but  Quinn  v.  Leatham  (1901),  A.  C.  495,  and  Giblau  v.  National  Amal- 
gamated Union  (1903),  2  K.  B.  600,  are  distinctly  for  the  nonunion 
man;  New  York,  Curran  v.  Galen,  152  N.  Y.  33  (1897),  and  Davis 
Machine  Co.  v.  Robinson,  41  Misc.  329  (1903),  are  for  the  nonunion 
man,  but  National  Protective  Association  v.  Gumming,  170  N.  Y.  315 
(1902),  and  Davis  v.  United  Hoisting  Engineers,  28  App.  Div.  396,  held 
for  the  union.  In  two  jurisdictions  at  least  the  law  permits  the  union 
to  force  the  nonunion  man  out :  New  Jersey,  Meyer  v.  Journeymen 
Stonecutters'  Association,  47  N.  J.  Eq.  519  (1890),  which,  however,  is 
based  on  the  court's  interpretation  of  the  local  trades  union  statutes  ; 
Indiana,  Clemmettv.  Watson,  14  Ind.  App.  38  (1895),  in  which  again 
/the  court  relies  upon  the  repeal  of  the  former  conspiracy  statutes.  It 
(  is,  therefore,  the  general  American  law  that  legal  wrong  is  done  by  a 
yunion  procuring  the  discharge  of  a  nonunion  man.  Even  if  their 
motive  is  self-interest,  —  to  get  all  the  work  for  their  own  members, 
—  still  most  courts  hold  that  the  union  cannot  be  allowed  to  use  the 
force  of  its  members  to  crush  the  nonunion  man.  .  .  .  Any  discussion 
which  leaves  out  the  fact  of  conspiracy  and  defends  the  union  upon 
the  basis  of  the  permission  given  individuals  to  compete  as  they 
please  misses  the  real  point  upon  which  the  discussion  turns.1 

Following  are  two  decisions  referred  to  above,  taking  opposite 
grounds  on  this  question  : 

New  York  Court  of  Appeals.  National  Protective  Association 
of  Steam  Fitters  and  Helpers  v.  Gumming  et  al.,  1 70  N.  Y. 
315  (1902). 

This  was  a  case  in  which  the  plaintiffs  applied  for  an  injunc- 
tion to  restrain  the  defendants,  the  Enterprise  Association  of 

1  See  also  Wyman,  "  The  Perpetuation  of  the  Open  Market,"  Green  Bag,  Vol. 
XVII,  pp.  210-221  ;  Lindley  D.  Clark,  "The  Present  Legal  Status  of  Organized 
Labor  in  the  United  States,"/0»r«<z/  of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  172-200. 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       185 

Steam  Fitters,  from  preventing  the  employment  of  its  members 
and  from  coercing  or  obtaining  by  threats,  strikes,  etc.,  the  dis- 
charge of  its  members.  The  plaintiffs  had  applied  for  member- 
ship in  the  defendant  labor  union,  but  being  denied  or  having 
been  expelled,  they  organized  a  dual  union,  the  National  Protec- 
tive Association  of  Steam  Fitters  and  Helpers.  Being  refused 
employment  on  account  of  the  threats  of  a  strike  by  the  defend- 
ant union,  they  brought  the  suit.  An  injunction  was  granted  in 
a  lower  court,  but  was  withdrawn  by  an  appellate  court,  and  the 
latter  decision  was  sustained  by  the  Court  of  Appeals.  Chief 
Justice  Parker,  speaking  of  the  defendant  association,  said  : 

Their  restriction  of  membership  to  those  who  have  stood  a  pre- 
scribed test  must  have  the  effect  of  securing  careful  as  well  as  skillful 
associates  in  their  work,  and  that  is  a  matter  of  no  small  importance 
in  view  of  the  state  of  the  law  which  absolves  the  master  from  lia- 
bility for  injuries  sustained  by  a  workman  through  the  carelessness 
of  a  co-employee.  So  long  as  the  law  compels  the  employee  to  bear 
the  burden  of  the  injury  in  such  cases,  it  cannot  be  open  to  question 
but  that  a  legitimate  and  necessary  object  of  societies  like  the 
defendant  associations  would  be  to  assure  the  lives  and  limbs  of 
their  members  against  the  negligent  acts  of  a  reckless  co-employee, 
and  hence  it  is  clearly  within  the  right  of  an  organization  to  provide 
such  a  method  of  examination  and  such  tests  as  will  secure  a  careful 
and  competent  membership,  and  to  insist  that  protection  of  life  and 
limb  requires  that  they  shall  not  be  compelled  to  work  with  men 
whom  they  have  not  seen  fit  to  admit  into  their  organization,  as 
happened  in  the  case  of  the  plaintiff,  McQueed.  .  .  . 

It  is  well  known  that  some  men,  even  in  .the  presence  of  danger, 
are  perfectly  reckless  of  themselves  and  careless  of  the  rights  of 
others,  with  the  result  that  accidents  are  occurring  almost  constantly 
which  snuff  out  the  lives  of  workmen  as  if  they  were  candles,  or  leave 
them  to  struggle  through  life  maimed  and  helpless.  These  careless, 
reckless  men  are  known  to  their  associates,  who  not  only  have  the 
right  to  protect  themselves  from  such  men,  but,  in  the  present  state 
of  the  law,  it  is  their  duty  through  their  organizations  to  attempt  to 
do  it,  as  to  the  trades  affording  special  opportunities  for  mischief 
arising  from  recklessness. 

I  know  it  is  said  in  another  opinion  in  this  case  that  "workmen 
cannot  dictate  to  employers  how  they  shall  carry  on  their  business, 


1 86         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

nor  whom  they  shall  or  shall  not  employ,"  but  I  dissent  absolutely 
from  that  proposition,  and  assert  that,  so  long  as  workmen  must 
assume  all  the  risk  of  injury  that  may  come  to  them  through  the 
carelessness  of  co-employees,  they  have  the  moral  and  legal  right  to 
say  that  they  will  not  work  with  certain  men  and  their  employer 
must  take  their  dictation  or  go  without  their  services.  .  .  . 

Stated  in  other  words,  the  propositions  quoted  [from  Judge  Vann's 
opinion]  recognize  the  right  of  one  man  to  refuse  to  work  for  another 
on  any  ground  that  he  may  regard  as  sufficient,  and  the  employer  has 
no  right  to  demand  a  reason  for  it.  But  there  is,  I  take  it,  no  legal 
objection  to  the  employee's  giving  a  reason,  if  he  has  one,  and  the 
fact  that  the  reason  given  is  that  he  refuses  to  work  with  another  who 
is  not  a  member  of  his  organization,  whether  stated  to  his  employer 
or  not,  does  not  affect  his  right  to  stop  work,  nor  does  it  give  a  cause 
of  action  to  the  workman  to  whom  he  objects  because  the  employer 
sees  fit  to  discharge  the  man  objected  to  rather  than  lose  the  services 
of  the  objector. 

The  same  rule  applies  to  a  body  of  men  who,  having  organized 
for  purposes  deemed  beneficial  to  themselves,  refuse  to  work.  Their 
reasons  may  seem  inadequate  to  others,  but,  if  it  seems  to  be  in  their 
interest  as  members  of  an  organization  to  refuse  longer  to  work,  it  is 
their  legal  right  to  stop.  The  reason  may  no  more  be  demanded  as 
a  right  of  the  organization  than  of  an  individual,  but  if  they  elect  to 
state  the  reason,  their  right  to  stop  work  is  not  cut  off  because  the 
reason  seems  inadequate  or  selfish  to  the  employer  or  to  organized 
society.  And  if  the  conduct  of  the  members  of  an  organization  is 
legal  in  itself,  it  does  not  become  illegal  because  the  organization 
directs  one  of  its  members  to  state  the  reason  for  its  conduct. 

The  principles  quoted  above  recognize  the  legal  right  of  members 
of  an  organization  to  strike,  that  is,  to  cease  working  in  a  body  by 
prearrangement  until  a  grievance  is  redressed,  and  they  enumerate 
some  things  that  may  be  treated  as  the  subject  of  a  grievance, 
namely,  the  desire  to  obtain  higher  wages,  shorter  hours  of  labor,  or 
improved  relations  with  their  employers,  but  this  enumeration  does 
not,  I  take  it,  purport  to  cover  all  the  grounds  which  will  lawfully 
justify  members  of  an  organization  refusing,  in  a  body  and  by  pre- 
arrangement, to  work.  The  enumeration  is  illustrative  rather  than 
comprehensive,  for  the  object  of  such  an  organization  is  to  benefit 
all  its  members,  and  it  is  their  right  to  strike,  if  need  be,  in  order  to 
secure  any  lawful  benefit  to  the  several  members  of  the  organization, 
as,  for  instance,  to  secure  the  reemployment  of  a  member  they  regard 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       187 

as  having  been  improperly  discharged  and  to  secure  from  an  employer 
of  a  number  of  them  employment  for  other  members  of  their  organ- 
ization who  may  be  out  of  employment,  although  the  effect  will  be  to 
cause  the  discharge  of  other  employees  who  are  not  members. 

And  whenever  the  courts  can  see  that  a  refusal  of  members  of  an 
organization  to  work  with  nonmembers  may  be  in  the  interests  of  the 
several  members,  it  will  not  assume  in  the  absence  of  a  finding  to 
the  contrary  that  the  object  of  such  refusal  was  solely  to  gratify 
malice  and  to  inflict  injury  upon  such  nonmembers.  .  .  . 

It  seems  to  me  illogical  and  little  short  of  absurd  to  say  that  the 
everyday  acts  of  the  business  world,  apparently  within  the  domain 
of  competition,  may  be  either  lawful  or  unlawful  according  to  the 
motive  of  the  actor.  If  the  motive  be  good,  the  act  is  lawful ;  if  it 
be  bad,  the  act  is  unlawful.  Within  all  the  authorities  upholding  the 
principle  of  competition,  if  the  motive  be  to  destroy  another's  busi- 
ness in  order  to  secure  business  for  yourself,  the  motive  is  good ; 
but,  according  to  a  few  recent  authorities,  if  you  do  not  need  the 
business  or  do  not  wish  it,  then  the  motive  is  bad ;  and  some  court 
may  say  to  a  jury,  who  are  generally  the  triers  of  fact,  that  a  given 
act  of  competition  which  destroyed  A's  business  was  legal  if  the  act 
was  prompted  by  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  defendant  to  secure  to 
himself  the  benefit  of  it,  but  illegal  if  its  purpose  was  to  destroy  A's 
business  in  revenge  for  an  insult  given.  .  .  . 

Nowhere  throughout  the  finding  will  be  found  even  a  hint  that  a 
strike  was  ordered  or  a  notification  given  of  the  intention  to  order  a 
strike  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  any  other  result  than  that  of 
securing  the  discharge  of  the  members  of  the  plaintiff  association 
and  the  substitution  of  .members  of  the  defendant  associations  in 
their  place.  Such  a  purpose  is  not  illegal  within  the  rules  laid  down 
in  the  opinion  of  Judge  Vann,  nor  within  the  authorities  cited  therein  ; 
on  the  contrary,  such  a  motive  is  conceded  to  be  a  legal  one.  It  is 
only  where  the  sole  purpose  is  to  do  injury  to  another,  or  the  act  is 
prompted  by  malice,  that  it  is  insisted  that  the  act  becomes  illegal. 
No  such  motive  is  alleged  in  that  finding.  It  is  not  hinted  at.  On 
the  contrary,  the  motive  which  always  underlies  competition  is 
asserted  to  have  been  the  animating  one.  It  is  beyond  the  right  and 
the  power  of  this  court  to  import  into  that  finding,  in  contradiction 
of  another  finding  or  otherwise,  the  further  finding  that  the  motive 
which  prompted  the  conduct  of  defendants  was  an  unlawful  one, 
prompted  by  malice  and  a  desire  to  do  injury  to  plaintiffs  without 
benefiting  the  members  of  the  defendant  associations. 


1 88         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

I  doubt  if  it  would  ever  have  occurred  to  any  one  to  claim  that 
there  was  anything  in  that  finding  importing  a  different  motive  from 
that  specially  alleged  in  the  finding,  had  not  the  draughtsman  char- 
acterized the  notice  given  to  the  employers  by  the  associations  of 
their  intention  to  strike  as  "threats." 

The  defendant  associations,  as  appears  from  the  finding  quoted, 
wanted  to  put  their  men  in  the  place  of  certain  men  at  work  who 
were  nonmembers  working  for  smaller  pay,  and  they  set  about  doing 
it  in  a  perfectly  lawful  way.  They  determined  that  if  it  were  neces- 
sary they  would  bear  the  burden  and  expense  of  a  strike  to  accom- 
plish that  result,  and  in  so  determining  they  were  clearly  within  their 
rights,  as  all  agree.  They  could  have  gone  upon  a  strike  without 
offering  any  explanation  until  the  contractors  should  have  come  in 
distress  to  the  officers  of  the  associations  asking  the  reason  for  the 
strike.  Then  after  explanations  the  nonmembers  would  have  been 
discharged  and  the  men  of  defendant  associations  sent  back  to  work. 
Instead  of  taking  that  course  they  chose  to  inform  the  contractors 
of  their  determination  and  the  reason  for  it. 

It  is  the  giving  of  this  information,  a  simple  notification  of  their 
determination,  which  it  was  right  and  proper  and  reasonable  to  give, 
that  has  been  characterized  as  "  threats  "  by  the  Special  Term  and 
which  has  led  to  no  inconsiderable  amount  of  misunderstanding 
since.  But  the  sense  in  which  the  word  was  employed  by  the  court 
is  of  no  consequence,  for  the  defendant  associations  had  the  absolute 
right  to  threaten  to  do  that  which  they  had  the  right  to  do.  Having 
the  right  to  insist  that  plaintiff's  men  be  discharged  and  defendants' 
men  put  in  their  place  if  the  services  of  the  other  members  of  the 
organization  were  to  be  retained,  they  also  had  the  right  to  threaten 
that  none  of  their  men  would  stay  unless  their  members  could  have 
all  the  work  there  was  to  do. 


A  man  has  a  right  under  the  law  to  start  a  store  and  to  sell  at 
such  reduced  prices  that  he  is  able  in  a  short  time  to  drive  the  other 
storekeepers  in  his  vicinity  out  of  business,  when,  having  possession 
of  the  trade,  he  finds  himself  soon  able  to  recover  the  loss  sustained 
while  ruining  the  others.  Such  has  been  the  law  for  centuries.  The 
reason,  of  course,  is  that  the  doctrine  has  generally  been  accepted 
that  free  competition  is  worth  more  to  society  than  it  costs,  and  that 
on  this  ground  the  infliction  of  damages  is  privileged.  (Common- 
wealth v.  Hunt,  4  Metcalf,  m,  134.) 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       189 

Nor  could  this  storekeeper  be  prevented  from  carrying  out  his 
scheme  because  instead  of  hiding  his  purpose  he  openly  declared  to 
those  storekeepers  that  he  intended  to  drive  them  out  of  business  in 
order  that  he  might  later  profit  thereby.  Nor  would  it  avail  such 
storekeepers,  in  the  event  of  their  bringing  an  action  to  restrain  him 
from  accomplishing  their  ruin  by  underselling  them,  to  persuade  the 
trial  court  to  characterize  the  notification  as  a  "  threat,"  for  on  review 
the  answer  would  be :  A  man  may  threaten  to  do  that  which  the  law 
says  he  may  do,  provided  that  within  the  rules  laid  down  in  those 
cases  his  motive  is  to  help  himself. 

A  labor  organization  is  endowed  with  precisely  the  same  legal 
right  as  is  an  individual  to  threaten  to  do  that  which  it  may  lawfully 
do 

Pennsylvania  Supreme  Court.    Erdman  et  al.  v.  Mitchell  et  at., 
207  Pa.  79  (1904). 

This  case  came  before  the  supreme  court  of  Pennsylvania  on 
appeal  from  the  court  of  common  pleas  of  Philadelphia  County, 
the  action  being  brought  by  William  C.  Erdman  and  others, 
members  of  the  Plumbers'  League  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
against  Robert  T.  Mitchell  and  others,  officers  and  members  of 
the  Allied  Building  Trades  of  Philadelphia.  It  appeared  that 
Erdman'  and  his  associates  were  employed  as  journeymen 
plumbers  in  the  erection  of  a  large  building  on  which  were 
employed  also  a  number  of  nonunion  workmen  and  a  larger 
number  of  workmen  of  various  trades  who  were  affiliated  with 
the  Allied  Building  Trades  above  mentioned.  After  the  work 
had  progressed  for  some  time,  a  strike  was  ordered  by  the 
executive  board  of  the  Allied  Trades,  and  all  workmen  affiliated 
therewith  were  ordered  to  desist  from  further  labor  because 
of  the  employment  on  the  building  of  nonunion  men  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Plumbers'  League,  which  was  not  affiliated  with  the 
Allied  Trades.  After  this  strike  had  gone  into  effect,  the  de- 
fendants, Mitchell  and  others,  as  representatives  of  the  Allied 
Trades,  called  on  the  manager  of  the  firm  that  had  a  general 
contract  for  the  building  and  said  that  if  he  would  remove  the 
objectionable  workmen  from  the  building  the  strike  should 
cease. 


1 90        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

An  agreement  was  finally  reached,  which  was  reduced  to 
writing,  to  the  effect  that  plumbers  should  be  employed  who 
had  the  card  of  the  Allied  Trades,  and  that  all  other  workmen 
of  other  trades  now  or  hereafter  employed  on  the  building 
should  have  in  their  possession  current  cards  from  unions  in 
affiliation  with  the  defendants'  organization.  In  accordance  with 
this  agreement,  Erdman  and  his  associates  were  dismissed  from 
further  employment  on  this  building  and  work  was  resumed. 
The  nonunion  workmen  who  had  been  employed  were  allowed 
to  continue  their  service  and  were  not  molested.  The  plaintiffs, 
Erdman  and  others,  then  undertook  to  find  employment  else- 
where, but  were  not  able  to  secure  and  retain  employment  in 
the  city  on  account  of  the  action  of  the  officers  of  the  Allied 
Trades,  who  announced  to  the  president  of  the  Plumbers' 
League,  of  which  Erdman  was  a  member,  that  it  was  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Allied  Trades  to  prevent  the  employment  of  any 
plumber  in  Philadelphia  who  was  not  a  member  of  a  union 
affiliated  with  them,  and  that  they  would  use  the  same  means 
that  they  had  used  in  the  case  above  described  wherever  they 
had  the  opportunity  of  doing  so. 

On  these  facts  the  court  of  common  pleas  had  issued  an 
injunction  prohibiting  the  defendants,  Mitchell  and  others,  and 
each  and  every  one  of  them,  their  committees,  agents,  and 
servants,  from  interfering  with  and  from  combining,  conspiring, 
or  attempting  to  interfere  with  the  employment  of  the  plaintiffs, 
or  any  one  or  more  of  them,  either  by  threatening  loss  to  any 
employer  who  might  take  them  into  his  service,  or  by  any 
scheme,  combination,  or  conspiracy  among  themselves  or  with 
others  to  annoy,  hinder,  interfere  with,  or  prevent  any  person 
or  persons  or  corporation  from  employing  or  continuing  to 
employ  such  plaintiffs,  or  any  one  or  more  of  them,  by  putting 
them  in  fear  of  loss  or  trouble,  or  to  do  anything  to  hinder, 
impede,  or  obstruct  the  plaintiffs,  or  any  one  or  more  of  them, 
from  securing  employment  or  continuing  in  employment.  From 
this  injunction  the  officers  of  the  Allied  Trades  took  an  appeal 
to  the  supreme  court,  with  the  result  that  the  decree  of  the 
court  below  was  affirmed  and  costs  assessed  upon  the  appellees. 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       191 
Judge  Dean,  for  the  supreme  court,  spoke  in  part  as  follows  : 

We  have  before  us  the  somewhat  unusual  case  of  two  warring 
trades  unions  invoking  the  law  for  the  settlement  of  their  respective 
rights  and  the  determination  of  their  legal  conduct  in  carrying  out 
the  purpose  of  their  respective  organizations.  .  .  . 

The  court  below  was  of  opinion  that  in  so  far  as  defendants,  in 
furtherance  of  the  purposes  of  the  council  of  the  Allied  Building 
Trades,  undertook  by  intimidation  of  plaintiffs  and  their  employers 
to  coerce  the  plaintiffs  into  joining  their  organization  or  any  particu- 
lar organization  and  by  such  action  caused  the  workmen  to  suffer 
damage,  such  action  was  unlawful  and  ought  to  be  restrained  by 
equity.  This  conclusion  is  correct.  This  is  not  an  indictment  for  a 
statutory  offense  nor  for  a  common-law  conspiracy,  which  last  the 
legislature  by  Acts  of  1872,  1876,  and  1891,  has  practically  abolished. 
It  is  a  suit  in  equity  to  restrain  an  unlawful  act.  It  is  argued  by 
appellees'  counsel  that  an  act  may  be  clearly  unlawful,  although  not 
the  subject  of  criminal  prosecution ;  that  an  agreement  by  a  number 
of  persons  that  they  will  by  threats  of  a  strike  deprive  a  mechanic 
of  the  right  to  work  for  others  merely  because  he  does  not  choose 
to  join  a  particular  union  is  a  conspiracy  to  commit  an  unlawful  act, 
which  conspiracy  may  be  restrained. 

We  do  not  question  that  defendants  may  under  their  constitution 
and  rules  resolve  that  they  will  not  work  with  members  of  other 
organizations  or  with  nonunion  men,  and  act  accordingly.  That  is 
their  right,  and  their  organization,  when  the  conduct  of  its  members 
is  limited  to  refraining  from  work  themselves  according  to  such  reso- 
lution, is  not  unlawful.  But  it  is  manifest  from  the  findings  of  fact 
and  the  testimony  that  defendants  went  far  beyond  this.  The  con- 
tractors undertook  the  erection  of  a  large  and  expensive  building. 
They  employed  a  large  number  of  men  skilled  in  all  branches  of  the 
building  trades,  a  majority  of  whom  were  members  of  defendants' 
union.  No  notice  was  given  by  the  organization  to  the  contractors 
that  their  members  would  not  be  permitted  to  work  on  the  same 
building  with  members  of  plaintiffs'  union  or  with  nonunion  men. 
After  the  building  had  progressed  until  it  had  reached  what  may  be 
called  its  critical  stage,  a  strike  was  ordered  of  all  the  workmen 
affiliated  with  defendants'  union,  and  two  thirds  of  all  at  work  quit. 
After  the  strike  negotiations  for  calling  it  off  were  opened  between 
defendants  and  the  manager  for  the  contractors,  and  the  result  was 
the  agreement  with  their  union  heretofore  noticed.  Then  followed 


IQ2         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  discharge  of  plaintiffs  from  work  on  that  building,  and  then  an 
interview  between  the  president  of  plaintiffs'  union  and  the  secretary 
of  defendants '.  The  latter  told  the  president  that  the  Allied  Trades 
intended  to  pursue  the  same  course  as  at  the  Mariner  and  Merchant 
Building  on  every  building  in  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  driving 
every  plumber  into  a  union  affiliated  with  the  Allied  Trades.  This 
evidence  would  have  established  a  criminal  conspiracy  at  common 
law.  Concede  that  it  would  not  under  our  present  legislation  now 
establish  it ;  nevertheless  it  is  still  an  unlawful  act.  There  was  no 
complaint  as  to  wages  by  any  of  the  workmen  on  the  building  when 
the  strike  was  declared.  All  wanted  to  work  and  their  employers 
wanted  them  to  work.  But  these  defendants  who  did  not  work  on 
the  building  had  a  grievance.  Plaintiffs  refused  to  and  would  not 
join  the  defendants'  union.  They  must  be  driven  to  joining  it  by 
threats  of  loss  of  work,  and  their  employers  must  be  compelled  to  aid 
defendants  by  threats  of  loss  of  money  on  their  contract.  This  is 
so  plain  that  it  is  waste  of  time  to  more  than  state  the  facts  to  con-A 
vince  that  the  conduct  of  defendants  was  calculated  to  intimidate  j 
both  employees  and  employers  and  consequently  was  unlawful.  The ; 
frightened  employers,  to  avoid  further  loss,  yielded.  The  plaintiffs 
did  not  yield,  and,  to  prevent  further  intimidation  of  those  who  would 
otherwise  employ  them,  they  seek  by  this  suit  to  restrain  defendants 
from  future  acts  of  intimidation. 

The  first  article  of  the  constitution  says  :  "  That  the  general  great 
and  essential  principles  of  liberty  and  free  government  may  be  recog- 
nized and  unalterably  established,  we  declare  that  all  men  are  born 
equally  free  and  independent  and  have  certain  inherent  and  indefeas- 
ible rights,  among  which  are  those  of  enjoying  and  defending  life  and 
liberty,  of  acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting  property  and  reputa- 
tion, and  of  pursuing  their  own  happiness."  Then  follows  the  con- 
clusion of  this  section :  "  Everything  in  this  article  is  excepted  out  of 
the  general  powers  of  government  and  shall  forever  remain  inviolate." 
This  clause,  unlike  many  others  in  the  constitution,  needs  no  affirma- 
tive legislation,  civil  or  criminal,  for  its  enforcement  in  the  civil  courts. 
Wherever  a  court  of  common  pleas  can  be  reached  by  the  citizen 
these  great  and  essential  principles  of  free  government  must  be  recog- 
nized and  vindicated  by  that  court,  and  the  indefeasible  right  of 
liberty  and  the  right  to  acquire  property  must  be  protected  under  the 
common-law  judicial  power  of  the  court.  Nor  does  it  need  statutory 
authority  to  frame  its  decrees,  or  statutory  process  to  enforce  them 
against  the  violators  of  constitutional  rights. 


DECISIONS  OF  COURTS  IN  LABOR  DISPUTES       193 

The  right  to  the  free  use  of  his  hands  is  the  workman's  property, 
as  much  as  the  rich  man's  right  to  the  undisturbed  income  from  his 
factory,  houses,  and  lands.  By  his  work  he  earns  present  subsistence 
for  himself  and  family.  His  savings  may  result  in  accumulations 
which  will  make  him  as  rich  in  houses  and  lands  as  his  employer. 
This  right  of  acquiring  property  is  an  inherent,  indefeasible  right  of 
the  workman.  To  exercise  it  he  must  have  the  unrestricted  privilege 
of  working  for  such  employer  as  he  chooses,  at  such  wages  as  he 
chooses  to  accept.  This  is  one  of  the  rights  guaranteed  him  by  our 
declaration  of  rights.  It  is  a  right  of  which  the  legislature  cannot 
deprive  him,  one  which  the  law  of  no  trades  union  can  take  from 
him,  and  one  which  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the  courts  to  protect. 
The  one  most  concerned  in  jealously  maintaining  this  freedom  is  the 
workman  himself. 

A  conspiracy  is  the  combination  of  two  or  more  persons  by  some 
concerted  action  to  accomplish  an  unlawful  purpose.  It  is  unlawful 
to  deprive  a  mechanic  or  workman  of  work  by  force,  threats,  or  intimi- 
dation of  any  kind.  A  combination  of  two  or  more  to  do  the  same 
thing  by  the  same  means  is  a  conspiracy.  That  by  the  legislation 
referred  to  such  conspiracy  is  no  longer  criminal  does  not  render  it 
lawful.  At  common  law  the  courts  held  that  such  combination  was 
so  prejudicial  to  the  public  interests  and  so  opposed  to  public  policy 
as  rendered  it  punishable  criminally ;  but  the  legislature,  which  gen- 
erally determines  what  is  and  what  is  not  public  policy,  has  declared 
that  it  is  no  longer  a  crime  or  misdemeanor.  But  this  is  as  far  as  it 
has  gone.  It  is  as  far  as  it  could  go  without  abolishing  the  declaration 
of  rights.  To  do  that  the  whole  people  of  the  commonwealth  must 
be  directly  consulted  and  they  must  give  assent.  For  while  the  plain 
implication  from  the  declaration  is  that  the  power  to  limit  this  inde- 
feasible right  rests  solely  with  the  people,  yet  when  they  adopted  the 
constitution  of  1874,  with  an  extreme  of  caution  they  expressly  said, 
"  Everything  in  this  article  is  excepted  out  of  the  general  powers  of 
government  and  shall  forever  remain  inviolate."  That  is,  shall  forever 
remain  with  the  people.  They  will  not  trust  their  own  legislature 
with  power  to  minimize  or  fritter  it  away  —  much  less,  a  trades  union. 
If  the  legislature  to-day  abolished  indictment  for  willful  and  malicious 
trespass  or  abolished  the  writ  of  estrepement,  to-morrow  courts  of 
equity  would  still  be  bound,  under  the  declaration  of  rights,  to  pro- 
tect the  citizen  in  the  peaceable  possession  and  enjoyment  of  his 
land,  even  if  to  do  so  they  were  compelled  to  imprison  the  lawless 
trespasser  who  refused  to  obey  their  writs.  So  the  same  courts  are 


194         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

still  bound  to  protect  the  humblest  mechanic  or  laborer  in  his  right 
to  acquire  property.  .  .  . 

It  is  argued  that  defendants,  either  individually  or  by  organization, 
have  the  right  now  to  peaceably  persuade  plaintiffs  and  others  not  to 
work  and  their  employer  not  to  hire  them.  So  they  have.  It  is 
further  argued  that  they  can  quit  work  when  they  choose.  So  they 
can.  But  neither  of  these  suggested  cases  is  the  one  before  us.  Here 
a  strike  on  a  large  building  was  declared  because  plaintiffs  would  not 
join  a  particular  society.  The  declared  purpose  of  the  strike  was  to 
cause  loss  of  employment  to  plaintiffs  because  they  would  not  join  the 
Allied  Building  Trades  —  chose  to  remain  faithful  to  their  own  union, 
the  Plumbers'  League.  The  Allied  Trades  would  not  declare  the 
strike  off  and  permit  work  on  the  buildings  to  proceed  until  the 
employers  entered  into  contract,  practically  stipulating  that  they 
would  discharge  plaintiffs  and  not  reemploy  them.  It  is  not 'impor- 
tant that  apt  language  precisely  expressing  the  threat  should  have  been 
used.  The  meaning  of  their  declarations  and  acts  was  well  under- 
stood by  all  parties.  The  men  lost  their  work.  The  employers,  after 
a  damaging  stoppage,  were  permitted  to  proceed  because  they  yielded 
to  the  threat;  that  is,  they  were  intimidated  because  they  feared 
further  loss.  How  absurd  it  is  to  call  this  peaceable  persuasion,  and 
how  absurd  to  argue  that,  if  the  law  attempts  to  prevent  it,  the  right 
of  the  workmen  to  organize  for  their  common  benefit  is  frustrated  ! 
And  then,  what  about  the  right  of  the  Plumbers'  League  to  organize 
for  the  common  benefit  of  its  members,  of  whom  the  plaintiffs  are  a 
part?  The  declared  purpose  of  the  Allied  Trades  is  by  these  acts  to 
absorb  this  union  and  thereby  destroy  it.  Under  no  possible  view 
of  the  conduct  of  defendants  was  it  lawful.  .  .  . 

And  so,  as  already  intimated,  it  comes  simply  to  the  question, 
Shall  the  law  of  an  irresponsible  trades  union  or  shall  the  organic  law 
of  a  free  commonwealth  prevail  ?  We  answer,  Every  court  of  the  com- 
monwealth is  bound  to  maintain  the  latter  in  letter  and  spirit. 


VIII 

STATE  ARBITRATION  AND  THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 
IN  AUSTRALASIA1 


On  all  sides  there  is  a  desire  to  discover  a  method  whereby 
peace  may  be  secured  without  injury  to  the  just  claims  and 
expectations  of  the  workers.  The  same  feeling  prevailed  in 
the  Australasian  colonies  when  industry  had  been  laid  waste 
by  the  maritime  strike  of  1890,  the  shearers'  strikes  of  1891 
and  1893,  and  the  miners'  strike  of  1892.  Trade  unionism 
had  collapsed,  but  after  the  victory  of  the  conservative  forces 
came  a  revival  of  progressivism,  and  with  it  an  eager  searching 
after  some  sane  means  for  dealing  with  the  claims  of  labor. 
The  result  has  been  a  body  of  legislation  which  by  its  results 
challenges  the  respect  if  not  the  assent  of  all  engaged  in 
industry.  New  Zealand  led  the  way  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Hon.  W.  Pember  Reeves,  then  Minister  for  Labor,  now  Agent 
General  in  London  for  the  colony,  who  introduced  his  first 
Industrial  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  Bill  in  1891.  Not  till 
1894,  however,  did  he  succeed  in  carrying  his  measure  for  the 
compulsory  reference  of  trade  disputes  to  state  boards  of  con- 
ciliation and  for  the  establishment  of  a  state  court  of  arbitra- 
tion whose  decisions  were  backed  by  the  whole  force  of  the  law. 
Victoria,  in  1896,  after  a  fierce  agitation  against  sweating,  passed 
a  Factory  and  Workshops  Act,  setting  up  wage  boards  for  the 
determination  of  wages  in  the  sweated  trades.  These  two  meas- 
ures have  been  the  models  for  subsequent  legislation  in  other 

iFrom  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  XVIII,  1903,  pp.  112-140.  See 
also  article  by  Victor  S.  Clark,  "  Labor  Conditions  in  New  Zealand,"  Bulletin  TJ.  S. 
Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  49  (1903) ;  Reeves,  State  Experiments  in  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  Vol.  I,  pp.  59-181. 

195 


196         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

colonies,  and  a  description  of  their  details  and  their  working 
will  occupy  the  bulk  of  this  paper.  South  Australia,  after  an 
abortive  and  badly  drawn  arbitration  act  in  1894,  adopted  the 
Victorian  plan  in  1900.  In  the  same  year  West  Australia  copied 
the  New  Zealand  Act,  and  late  in  1901  the  New  South  Wales 
legislature  passed  an  act  based,  but  with  important  modifica- 
tions, on  Pember  Reeves'  model. 

The  New  Zealand  Act  of  1894  was  amended  in  1895,  1896, 
and  1898,  and  was  replaced  in  1900  by  a  consolidating  and 
amending  act  which  was  itself  amended  in  the  following  year. 
Although  the  recent  amendments  are  important,  yet  the  work- 
ing of  the  system  will  be  best  understood  if  the  original  act  is 
first  summarized,  and  then  the  amendments  described  which 
were  passed  to  give  effect  to  the  teachings  of  experience. 

The  "  industrial  matters "  which  were  brought  within  the 
scope  of  the  law  were  defined  to  be  "all  matters  or  things 
affecting  or  relating  to  work  done  or  to  be  done,  or  the  privi- 
leges, rights,  or  duties  of  employers  or  workmen  in  any  industry, 
and  not  involving  questions  which  are  or  may  be  the  subject  of 
proceedings  for  an  indictable  offense."  The  basis  of  the  act  was 
that  it  took  no  notice  of  irresponsible  persons.  An  individual 
employer  was  a  person  with  property  which  could  be  attached 
by  law,  but  the  individual  worker  was  not  in  such  a  position. 
The  act  therefore  dealt  only  with  organized  bodies  of  work 
people,  and  since  the  trade  unions  were  chary  of  risking  their 
privileges  by  coming  to  close  quarters  with  the  law,  it  provided 
for  the  establishment  for  the  purposes  of  the  act  of  "  industrial 
unions  "  of  not  less  than  seven  workers  or  seven  employers. 
These  unions  had  to  be  genuine  organizations,  with  rules,  commit- 
tees of  management,  and  funds,  and  when  registered  they  became 
corporate  bodies  with  powers  to  sue  and  be  sued,  but  only  for 
the  purposes  of  the  act.  No  member  could  retire  without  giving 
three  months'  written  notice,  and  all  members  by  registration  of 
the  union  became  subject  to  the  act.  Trade  unions  could  register 
as  industrial  unions,  each  branch  being  considered  for  this  purpose 
a  separate  union,  and  several  industrial  unions  could  unite  to  form 
an  "industrial  association." 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  197 

The  object  of  the  author  of  the  act  being  to  foster  mutual 
settlements  of  disputes,  the  measure  proceeded  next  to  provide 
that  industrial  unions  or  associations  of  workers  might  enter 
into  "  industrial  agreements  "  with  any  employer  or  employers  or 
union  or  association  of  employers  in  relation  to  any  industrial 
matter.  Such  agreements  were  to  be  filed  in  the  supreme 
court  and  enforced  in  the  same  manner  as  awards  under  the 
act.  In  default  of  such  agreements  any  party  to  a  dispute,  being 
an  industrial  union  or  association  of  workers  or  employers  or  any 
employer,  could  refer  the  matter  at  issue  to  a  board  of  concilia- 
tion, and  after  such  reference  no  strike  or  lockout  was  permitted. 
The  physical  conformation  of  New  Zealand  leads  to  the  splitting 
up  of  trades  into  local  sections  and  to  the  accentuation  of  local 
feeling.  The  act  consequently  provided  that  the  governor  might 
divide  the  colony  into  districts,  in  each  of  which  there  should  be 
a  board  of  conciliation  and  a  clerk  of  awards.  Each  board  was 
to  consist  of  four  or  six  persons  elected  in  equal  proportions  by 
the  industrial  unions  of  workers  and  employers  in  the  district 
respectively,  and  of  a  chairman  elected  from  outside  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  board  or,  in  default  thereof,  appointed  by  the 
governor,  who  could  also  nominate  members  in  case  any  section 
declined  or  neglected  to  elect  its  representatives.  The  voting 
unit  was  an  industrial  union,  each  union  having  as  many  votes 
as  there  were  members  to  be  elected  by  its  section.  The  term 
of  office  was  three  years,  and  one  half  of  the  members  plus  the 
chairman  formed  a  quorum,  the  chairman  having  a  casting  vote 
only.  When  a  dispute  was  referred  to  it  the  board  had  full 
powers  to  call  for  evidence,  including  books  and  documents, 
and  to  inspect  factories,  and,  notwithstanding  the  way  in  which 
the  dispute  was  referred  to  it,  it  could  make  any  arrangement 
that  was  necessary  to  insure  the  dispute  being  brought  before 
it  in  a  complete  shape.  Special  boards  could  be  appointed  "to 
meet  any  case  of  emergency  or  any  special  case  of  industrial  dis- 
pute." Parties  could  appear  before  the  board  either  personally 
or  by  their  agents  or,  if  all  parties  agreed,  by  counsel  or  solic- 
itor ;  but  such  consent  has  very  rarely  been  given.  The  duty  of 
the  board  was  first  of  all  to  strive  to  induce  the  parties  to  come 


198         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

to  a  "  fair  and  amicable  settlement "  of  the  dispute,  and  if  they 
failed  they  were  to  "  decide  the  question  according  to  the  merits 
and  substantial  j  ustice  of  the  case. "  But  their  decision  only  became 
operative  if  all  parties  agreed,  for  any  party  could  require  the  clerk 
of  awards  to  refer  the  dispute  to  the  court  of  arbitration. 

The  court  of  arbitration  consisted  of  three  persons  appointed 
by  the  governor  :  the  president,  who  must  be  a  judge  of  the 
supreme  •  court,  and  two  persons  recommended  by  the  indus- 
trial associations  or  unions  of  employers  and  workers  respec- 
tively. The  term  of  office  was  three  years,  and  one  member 
and  the  president  formed  a  quorum.  The  court  had  jurisdiction 
whenever  a  matter  was  referred  to  it  by  a  board,  or  by  a  party 
dissenting  from  a  board's  recommendation,  or  by  any  party  in  a 
district  where  no  board  had  been  constituted.  The  proceedings 
before  the  court  were  similar  to  those  conducted  before  a  board  ; 
frivolous  cases  could  be  dismissed  and  costs  awarded.  The  court 
was  to  decide  cases  by  a  majority  of  its  members  present  "  in 
such  manner  as  they  find  to  stand  with  equity  and  good  con- 
science." It  could  admit  evidence  which  was  not  strictly  legal, 
and  its  proceedings  could  neither  be  impeached  for  want  of  form, 
nor  removed  to  any  other  court  or  reviewed  "on  any  account 
whatsoever."  Its  award  had  to  be  made  within  one  month  after 
the  beginning  of  the  case  and  was  to  specify  "  each  industrial 
union,  trade  union,  association,  person,  or  persons  "  bound  by  it 
and  the  period  not  exceeding  two  years  during  which  it  was  to 
be  in  force.  From  this  enumeration  it  will  be  seen  that  though 
unorganized  workmen  could  not  appeal  to  the  act  they  could 
nevertheless  be  bound  by  decisions  under  it.  On  the  applica- 
tion of  any  party  the  award  was  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
supreme  court  and  became  then  enforceable  like  any  other  judg- 
ment or  order  up  to  the  sum  of  ^500  against  any  "  industrial 
union,  trade  union,  association,  or  person,"  and  to  ,£10  against 
any  person  in  virtue  of  his  membership  in  a  union  or  association. 
The  maximum  penalty  for  each  breach  of  an  industrial  agreement 
was  fixed  at  ^500. 

The  act  came  into  force  on  January  I,  1895,  but  most  of  that 
year  was  occupied  with  making  the  necessary  arrangements, 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA 


199 


and  the  first  case  was  dealt  with  early  in  1896.  Seven  districts 
were  constituted  each  with  a  board,  and  a  return  to  the  legisla- 
tive council  of  the  colony  shows  that  during  the  four  years, 
April,  1896,  to  March,  1900,  twenty-nine  cases  were  settled 
by  the  boards,  fifty-seven  by  the  court,  and  one  was  settled  by 
the  parties.  The  cost  of  administration  was  .£5404.  Under 
the  Act  of  1900  the  applications  to  the  boards  have  greatly 
increased.  There  have  been  only  seven  strikes  and  all  of  these 
occurred  among  unorganized  workmen  or  government  employees 
who  did  not  come  under  the  act.  In  two  cases  the  men  after- 
wards organized  and  took  advantage  of  the  law ;  in  all  cases  the 
disputes  were  trivial  and  involved  only  a  few  men  and  a  short 
stoppage  of  work,  —  at  the  outside  three  hundred  altogether 
were  concerned.  Although  the  description  of  New  Zealand  as 
a  "  land  without  strikes  "  is  not  strictly  accurate,  the  few  cases 
of  cessation  of  work  among  unorganized  work  people  only  bring 
out  in  bolder  relief  the  general  success  of  compulsory  arbitra- 
tion. The  most  remarkable  feature  about  the  results  is  the  small 
number  of  cases  settled  by  the  boards,  contrary  to  Mr.  Reeves' 
expectations.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  ill-will  with  which 
employers  at  the  beginning  regarded  the  act.  While  the  work- 
ers were  confident  enough  to  register  their  trade  unions  as 
industrial  unions  instead  of  forming  separate  organizations,  the 
employers  held  aloof  and  would  not  elect  representatives  to  the 
boards.  In  such  cases  Mr.  Reeves  contemplated  that  the  dis- 
putes would  be  taken  straight  to  the  court,  and  that  the  boards 
would  operate  only  where  both  sides  by  taking  part  in  their  forma- 
tion were  disposed  towards  conciliation.  The  government,  how- 
ever, completed  the  boards  by  appointing  representatives  of  the 
employers,  and  although  no  whisper  has  been  raised  against  the 
integrity  of  these  gentlemen,  they  naturally  did  not  command 
the  full  confidence  of  their  class.  Besides,  we  must  reckon  with 
the  fighting  instinct  which  leads  the  Anglo-Saxon  not  to  surren- 
der a  "right "  until  the  last  court  has  decided  against  him. 

The  rush  of  applicants  and  the  frequency  of  appeals  natu- 
rally led  to  much  delay  in  the  settlement  of  cases,  and  the 
chief  amendments  in  the  Act  of  1900  were  directed  toward  the 


200         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

strengthening  of  the  boards.  Unless  any  party  dissatisfied  with 
the  decision  of  a  board  appeals  to  the  court  within  a  month  the 
decision  becomes  an  industrial  agreement.  The  Act  of  1901 
goes  farther  and  permits  any  party  to  a  dispute  to  take  the  case 
straight  to  the  court  without  its  passing  through  a  board.  The 
Act  of  1900  made  some  other  interesting  amendments.  Two 
employers  can  now  form  an  industrial  union ;  the  court  may 
decline  to  register  an  industrial  union  if  there  is  one  in  the  same 
locality  which  the  applicants  might  conveniently  join  ;  and  the 
boards  are  reduced  to  three  or  five  members.  The  court  of  arbi- 
tration restricted  the  application  of  the  act  to  persons  engaged 
in  work  "of  an  industrial  character"  ;  but  the  term  "  worker  " 
is  now  defined  (by  the  Act  of  1901)  to  include  any  person 
"employed  to  do  any  skilled  or  unskilled  manual  or  clerical 
work  for  hire  or  reward."  The  term  of  agreements  and  awards 
is  extended  (by  the  Act  of  1900)  to  three  years,  and  notwithstand- 
ing their  expiration  they  are  to  continue  in  force  until  super- 
seded by  fresh  agreements  or  new  awards.  The  boards  can  no 
longer  demand  the  production  of  employers'  books,  that  power 
being  confined  to  the  court.  A  board  or  the  court  may  require 
at  any  time  the  appointment  of  two  experts,  one  nominated  by 
each  side,  to  assist  as  assessors  but  not  to  act  as  judges.  When 
industries  are  related  either  by  being  "  branches  of  the  same 
trade,"  or  by  being  "  so  connected  that  industrial  matters  affect- 
ing the  one  may  affect  the  other,"  then  a  board  or  the  court 
may  consider  and  deal  with  such  related  industries  in  making  its 
recommendation  or  award.  An  industrial  union  of  workers  may 
refer  a  dispute  to  a  board  even  although  no  one  of  its  members 
is  directly  concerned.  An  award  applies  to  nonunionist  work- 
men and  to  new  employers  coming  into  the  locality  within  which 
the  award  is  in  force  during  the  currency  of  the  award.  Finally, 
the  court  may  now  make  an  award  covering  the  whole  area  of  the 
colony,  "where  the  award  relates  to  a  trade  or  manufacture  the 
products  of  which  enter  into  competition  in  any  market  with  those 
manufactured  in  another  industrial  district."  The  Act  of  1901 
placed  trade  unions  in  the  same  position  as  industrial  unions  for 
the  purposes  of  the  Industrial  Conciliation  and  Arbitration  Acts. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  20 1 

In  March,  1900,  there  were  26,067  members  of  industrial 
unions  out  of  48,938  industrial  workers.  The  passing  of  the 
Act  of  1901  gave  a  great  impetus  to  organization  ;  85  unions 
were  registered  in  eight  months,  and  in  December,  1901,  there 
were  241  industrial  unions  of  workers  and  12  industrial  asso- 
ciations. At  the  same  date  there  were  71  industrial  unions  of 
employers  and  i  industrial  association,  but  there  are  still  a  very 
large  number  of  employers  unorganized. 

The  briefest  summary  of  the  work  of  the  boards  of  concilia- 
tion and  the  court  of  arbitration  is  to  say  that  in  the  course  of 
the  last  six  years  they  have  had  to  deal  with  every  kind  of 
industrial  question,  —  time  wages,  piecework,  overtime,  hours 
of  labor,  traveling  allowances,  position  of  union  officials,  trade 
unionism,  introduction  of  machinery,  control  of  the  factory, — 
in  fact,  every  thorny  problem  which  has  disturbed  industry  in 
other  lands.  The  awards  are  prepared  with  the  most  painstaking 
care.  For  example,  the  wages  schedule  in  the  case  of  the  Auck- 
land compositors  decided  in  1900  covers  nine  pages  of  the  Jour- 
nal' 'of the  Department  of  Labor,  and  in  the  Auckland  boot  trade 
award  of  1899  there  are  796  rates  of  pay  specified.  In  all  cases 
a  minimum  wage  is  fixed,  and  then  usually  follows  this  remark- 
able provision  which  removes  a  fertile  source  of  dispute : 

Any  workman  who  considers  himself  not  capable  of  earning  the 
minimum  wage  may  be  paid  such  less  wage  as  may  from  time  to  time 
be  agreed  upon  in  writing  between  any  employer  and  the  secretary 
or  president  of  the  union ;  and  in  default  of  such  agreement  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  such  journeyman  shall  have  applied  in  writ- 
ing to  the  secretary  of  the  union  stating  his  desire  that  such  wage 
shall  be  agreed  upon  as  shall  be  fixed  in  writing  by  the  chairman  of 
the  conciliation  board  for  the  industrial  district  upon  the  application 
of  such  journeyman  after  twenty-four  hours'  notice  in  writing  to  the 
secretary  of  the  union,  who  shall,  if  desired  by  him,  be  heard  by  such 
chairman  on  such  application.  Any  journeyman  whose  wage  shall 
have  been  so  fixed  may  work  and  be  employed  for  such  less  wage  for 
the  period  of  six  calendar  months  thereafter,  and,  after  the  expiration 
of  the  said  period  of  six  calendar  months,  until  fourteen  days'  notice  in 
writing  shall  have  been  given  to  him  by  the  secretary  of  the  union  re- 
quiring his  wage  to  be  again  fixed  in  manner  prescribed  by  this  clause.1 

1  Canterbury  lithographers'  award,  August  19,  1901. 


202         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

An  example  of  the  famous  clause  relating  to  preference  to 
union  men  must  also  be  given  in  full : 

So  long  as  the  rules  of  the  union  permit  any  person  of  good  character 
and  sober  habits,  and  a  competent  tradesman,  to  become  a  member 
on  payment  of  an  entrance  fee  not  exceeding  5  s.,  upon  his  written 
application,  without  ballot  or  other  election,  and  so  to  continue  upon 
contributing  subscriptions  not  exceeding  6  d.  per  week,  the  employers 
shall  employ  members  of  the  union  in  preference  to  nonmembers, 
provided  that  there  are  members  of  the  union  equally  qualified  with 
nonmembers  to  perform  the  particular  work ;  but  this  shall  not  com- 
pel an  employer  to  refuse  employment  to  any  person  now  employed 
by  him.  When  union  and  nonunion  men  are  employed  together 
they  shall  work  in  harmony  and  shall  receive  equal  pay.  The  union 
shall  keep  in  some  convenient  place  within  one  mile  from  the  chief 
post  office  in  the  city  of  Dunedin,  and  also  at  some  convenient  place 
at  Invercargill  and  at  Alexandra,  a  book  to  be  called  "  the  employ- 
ment book,"  wherein  shall  be  entered  the  names  and  exact  addresses 
of  all  the  members  of  the  union  for  the  time  being  out  of  employment, 
with  a  description  of  the  branch  of  the  trade  in  which  each  such  jour- 
neyman claims  to  be  proficient,  and  the  names,  addresses,  and  occu- 
pations of  every  employer  by  whom  each  such  journeyman  shall  have 
been  employed  during  the  preceding  two  years.  Immediately  upon 
any  such  journeyman  obtaining  employment  a  note  thereof  shall  be 
entered  in  such  book.  The  executive  of  the  union  shall  use  their 
best  endeavors  to  verify  all  the  entries  in  such  book,  and  the  union 
shall  be  answerable  as  for  a  breach  of  this  award  in  case  any  entry 
therein  shall  in  any  particular  be  willfully  false  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  executive  of  the  union  or  in  case  the  executive  of  the  union  shall 
not  have  used  reasonable  endeavors  to  verify  the  same.  Such  book 
shall  be  open  to  every  employer  without  fee  or  charge  at  all  hours 
between  eight  A.M.  and  five  P.M.  on  every  working  day  except  Satur- 
day, and  on  that  day  between  the  hours  of  eight  A.M.  and  noon.  If  the 
union  fails  to  keep  the  employment  book  in  manner  provided  by  this 
clause,  then,  and  in  such  case,  and  so  long  as  such  failure  shall  con- 
tinue, any  employer  may,  if  he  so  thinks  fit,  employ  any  person  or 
persons,  whether  a  member  of  the  union  or  not,  to  perform  the  work 
required  to  be  performed,  notwithstanding  the  foregoing  provisions.1 

It  will  be  noted  that  by  these  provisions  the  odious  nonunion 
quarrel  is  avoided,  open  unions  are  provided  and  encouraged, 

1  Otago  boilermakers  and  iron-ship  builders'  award,  August  26,  1901. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN   AUSTRALASIA  203 

the  right  of  the  employer  to  select  his  work  people  is  preserved, 
unionists  are  guarded  against  victimization,  and  the  union  is 
utilized  as  a  highly  skilled  labor  bureau. 

Some  other  interesting  decisions  may  be  quoted.  On  the 
introduction  of  machinery  we  have  the  following : 

In  the  working  of  all  machinery  used  in  conjunction  with  the  cur- 
riers' trade,  preference  shall  be  given  to  curriers,  provided  that  such 
curriers  shall  have  had  a  previous  experience  with  such  machines  and 
are  equally  competent  with  the  other  workmen  who  are  not  curriers. 
Apprentices  to  the  curriers'  trade  shall  be  taught  to  use  the  machines.1 

It  is  the  manufacturer's  right  to  introduce  whatever  machinery  his 
business  may  require  and  to  divide  or  subdivide  labor  in  any  way 
he  may  deem  necessary,  subject  to  the  payment  of  wages  as  set  forth 
in  the  rules  hereinafter  set  forth.2 

In  the  event  of  linotype  or  typesetting  machines  being  introduced 
into  any  office,  the  members  already  employed  in  such  office  shall 
have  the  first  opportunity  of  being  employed  as  probationers,  and 
finally  as  regular  operators,  after  having  attained  the  required  standard 
of  efficiency,  in  preference  to  imported  operators.8 

On  the  vital  question  as  to  the  control  of  factories  a  .decision 
was  given  in  these  words  : 

The  employers  shall  have  the  fullest  right  of  control  (subject  to 
the  special  provisions  of  this  award)  of  the  factories  and  may  make 
such  rules  for  the  necessary  and  proper  management  thereof  as  they 
may  deem  expedient.4 

A  colonial  award  was  given  under  the  Act  of  1900  which 
deserves  some  attention.  The  parties  were  the  New  Zealand 
Federated  Boot  Trade  Industrial  Association  of  Workmen,  the 
New  Zealand  Boot  Manufacturers'  Industrial  Union  of  Employers, 
and  ten  nonassociated  employers  in  Christ  church.  Employers 
were  to  give  preference  of  employment  to  unionists,  who  in  their 
turn  were  to  give  preference  of  service  to  the  associated  employ- 
ers ;  at  any  time  within  twelve  weeks  the  union  was  to  have  the 
right  to  supply  capable  men  to  take  the  places  of  nonunionist 

1  Canterbury  curriers'  award,  August  15,  1901. 

2  Christchurch  bootmakers'  award,  May  4,  1901. 

3  Auckland  compositors'  award,  June  6,  1900. 

4  Canterbury  slaughtermen's  award,  August  14,  1901. 


204         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

workmen  then  employed  who  declined  to  join  the  union  ;  a  work- 
ing week  of  forty-eight  hours  and  a  minimum  weekly  wage  of 
£2  2  s.  were  fixed  ;  incompetent  workmen  and  apprentices  were 
also  regulated ;  the  award  was  to  continue  for  two  years  and 
extend  over  the  districts  of  Christchurch,  Auckland,  Dunedin, 
and  Wellington  ;  any  union  in  the  federation  could  take  proceed- 
ings for  the  enforcement  of  the  award  within  its  own  district ;  no 
industrial  agreement  was  to  be  entered  into  between  the  manu- 
facturers' association  and  nonunionists,  or  between  the  union  and 
nonassociated  masters  without  notice  to  the  present  parties.1 

The  ordinary  objection  that  compulsory  arbitration  is  useless 
since  awards  could  not  be  enforced  is  refuted  by  the  simple  fact 
that  no  breach  of  an  award  has  been  committed  in  New  Zealand 
by  any  body  of  workmen,  though  in  some  cases  the  decisions 
have  been  displeasing  to  them.  Nor  has  there  been  any  con- 
certed attempt  by  employers  to  frustrate  the  working  of  the 
act,  such  breaches  as  have  been  proved  being  few  and  quickly 
punished  by  fines,  in  one  case  amounting  to  £25.  The  great 
care  taken  by  the  court  to  meet  cases  of  special  difficulty  has 
helped  the  ready  acceptance  of  its  decisions.  Current  contracts 
are  very  often  exempted,  and  in  the  Consolidated  Gold  Com- 
pany's case,  1 896,  the  court  decided  that  the  men  should  submit 
to  a  reduction  for  a  limited  period  on  account  of  the  company's 
heavy  expenditure  in  development  work. 

As  to  the  effects  of  the  act  on  capital  and  industry  we  fortu- 
nately have  the  independent  evidence  2  of  Judge  Backhouse,  who 
was  commissioned  in  1901  by  the  government  of  New  South 
Wales  to  inquire  into  the  working  of  compulsory  conciliation 
and  arbitration  laws  in  New  Zealand,  Victoria,  and  other  colo- 
nies. After  exhaustive  local  inquiries  he  reported  on  this  head  : 

Generally,  I  should  say  that  my  investigations  showed  that  with 
possibly  one  exception  industries  have  not  been  hampered  by  the 
provisions  of  the  act.  To  attempt  to  decide  whether  capital  under 
other  conditions  would  have  been  invested  in  particular  industries  is 

1  Christchurch  bootmakers'  award,  May  4,  1901. 

2  Report  of  Royal  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  the  Working  of  Compulsory 
Conciliation  and  Arbitration  Laws  (New  South  Wales,  95  A,  1901). 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  205 

to  undertake  a  task  which  has  merely  to  be  mentioned  to  show  its 
impossibility.  No  doubt  general  statements  were  made  that  this 
abstention  had  been  practiced,  but  I  found  it  more  than  difficult  to 
get  specific  instances.  Any  cases  which  were  mentioned,  on  inves- 
tigation hardly  bore  out  the  view  put  forward. 

The  one  exception  referred  to  is  the  boot  trade,  but  that 
industry  was  in  a  depressed  state  in  1893  and  has  continued  in 
the  same  condition,  as  it  has  also  in  other  Australasian  colonies. 
The  real  cause. of  the  depression  is  American  competition,  as  is 
shown  by  the  rise  in  the  importation  of  boots  from  £i  15,205,  in 
1895  to  .£186,088  in  1900.  Since  the  passing  of  the  act  New 
Zealand  has  grown  steadily  more  prosperous.  In  1 894  its  export 
and  import  trade  was  .£16,000,000,  in  1901  it  was  £23,000,000  ; 
in  1895,  29,879  hands  were  engaged  in  factories  and  workshops, 
in  1901,  53,460.  As  the  fiction  that  the  New  Zealand  labor 
laws  have  injured  the  prosperity  of  the  colony  is  constantly 
being  repeated,  it  may  be  as  well  to  -quote  an  Australian  corre- 
spondent of  the  Times  (April  4,  1902),  a  hostile  but  plainly  a 
well-informed  witness  : 

New  Zealand,  having  recklessly  borrowed  English  capital  and 
alienated  its  best  land,  was  in  a  very  bad  state  till  the  Ballance  govern- 
ment came  into  power.  That  government  and  the  Seddon  government 
which  followed  it  proceeded  by  heavy  taxation  and  by  compulsory 
resumption  to  force  the  good  land  back  into  the  market.  They 
passed  factory  acts  and  compulsory  arbitration  acts  and  compelled 
government  contractors  to  pay  high  wages  to  their  employees ;  they 
are  opening  a  state  coal  mine  and  have  in  force  a  system  of  state 
life  insurance.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  this,  —  or  because  of  all  this, 
—  New  Zealand  is  at  present  one  of  the  most  prosperous  places 
on  earth. 

While  this  prosperity  has  made  the  working  of  the  act  smoother 
in  some  respects,  it  has  led  to  increased  demands  on  the  part 
of  labor,  which  fortunately  have  taken  the  form  of  increased 
recourse  to  the  courts  instead  of  to  strikes.  It  has  also  inevi- 
tably brought  about  a  rise  in  prices  which  Judge  Backhouse 
mistakenly  attributes  to  the  working  of  the  act. 


206         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  rush  of  applicants  caused  some  temporary  impatience 
with  the  workmen  and  no  doubt  contributed  to  increase  the 
appeals  from  the  boards  to  the  court.  The  apparent  inefficacy 
of  the  boards  has  led  to  suggestions  for  their  reform  or  abolition. 
It  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  the  payment  of  members  has 
worked  well,  and,  though  the  great  majority  of  the  members  are 
highly  respected,  yet  in  Judge  Backhouse's  opinion  some,  by 
"  taking  an  active  part  outside  in  the  furtherance  of  the  claims 
of  one  of  the  parties,"  render  their  boards  "  boards  of  irritation 
rather  than  conciliation."  Yet  both  Mr.  Reeves  and  Mr.  Justice 
Cooper,  the  president  of  the  court  of  arbitration,  believe,  and 
rightly,  that  the  boards  are  necessary.  The  double  threshing 
out  of  a  case  leads  to  the  more  careful  avoidance  of  injustice  or 
of  injury  to  trade.  Such  delay  as  there  is  is  well  paid  for  by  this 
great  gain. 

A  final  quotation  from  Judge  Backhouse  will  fitly  close  this 
part  of  our  investigation  : 

The  act  has  prevented  strikes  of  any  magnitude  and  has,  on 
the  whole,  brought  about  a  better  relation  between  employers  and 
employees  than  would  exist  if  there  were  no  act.  It  has  enabled  the 
increase  of  wages  and  the  other  conditions  favorable  to  the  workmen, 
to  which,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  colony,  they  are  entitled, 
to  be  settled  without  that  friction  and  bitterness  of  feeling  which 
otherwise  might  have  existed ;  it  has  enabled  employers,  for  a  time 
at  least,  to  know  with  certainty  the  conditions  of  production  and 
therefore  to  make  contracts  with  the  knowledge  that  they  would  be 
able  to  fulfil  them ;  and  indirectly  it  has  tended  to  a  more  harmonious 
feeling  among  the  people  generally  which  must  have  worked  for  the 
weal  of  the  colony.  A  very  large  majority  of  the  employers  of  labor 
whom  I  interviewed  are  in  favor  of  the  principle  of  the  act.  .  .  . 
The  awards  generally  have  been  in  favor  of  the  workers,  and  it  is 
therefore  easy  to  understand  that  the  unionists  to  a  man  believe  in 
the  act,  and,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  the  nonunionists,  as  far 
as  my  observation  goes,  find  no  fault  with  it.  ...  But  while  the 
effects  of  the  act  so  far  are  good,  the  time  has  not  yet  come  when  it 
can  be  said  with  any  certainty  that  it  is  a  measure  which  will  provide 
for  the  solution  of  all  labor  troubles.  Since  it  came  into  operation 
in  New  Zealand  everything  has  been  in  favor  of  an  increase  in  the 
emoluments  and  of  an  amelioration  of  the  conditions  of  labor,  and 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  207 

there  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt  that  wages  would  have  risen  if 
there  had  been  no  act.  .  .  .  When  lean  years  come,  as  come  they 
must,  .  .  .  when  wages  will  be  cut  down  instead  of  being  raised  by 
the  awards,  —  then,  and  not  till  then,  can  any  one  speak  with  authority 
as  to  whether  the  principle  involved  is  workable  or  not.1 

The  legislation  of  Victoria  in  regard  to  Minimum  Wage  Boards 
is  contained  in  the  Factories  and  Shops  Act,  1896,  No.  1445, 
amending  Acts  of  1896,  1897,  and  1898,  and  in  the  consolidating 
and  extending  Factories  and  Shops  Act,  1900,  No.  1654.  The 
original  act  dealt  only  with  the  sweated  trades  —  clothing,  furni- 
ture, and  bread  making  —  and  was  to  remain  in  force  for  five 
years ;  the  amending  acts  remedied  various  defects  which  came 
to  light ;  and  the  Act  of  1900  extended  the  legal  regulation  of 
wages  to  all  trades  and  was  to  be  operative  until  the  session  of 
Parliament  next  following  May  i,  1902.  A  commission  was 
appointed  under  the  last-named  act  to  inquire  into  the  working 
of  the  acts  and  their  effect  on  trade,  manufacture,  labor,  and 
commerce ;  but  up  to  the  summer  of  1901  it  had  taken  evidence 
principally  as  to  early  closing. 

In  summarizing  the  law  it  will  be  most  convenient  to  take  the 
Act  of  1900.  Section  15  (i)  runs  : 

In  order  to  determine  the  lowest  prices  or  rates  which  may  be 
paid  to  any  person  or  persons  or  classes  of  persons  for  wholly  or 
partly  preparing  or  manufacturing,  either  inside  or  outside  a  factory 
or  workroom,  any  particular  articles  of  clothing  or  wearing  apparel  or 
furniture,  or  for  bread  making  or  baking,  or  to  any  person  or  persons 
or  classes  of  persons  employed  in  any  process,  trade,,  or  business 
usually  or  frequently  carried  on  in  a  factory  or  workroom  or  employed 
in  the  process,  trade,  or  business  of  a  butcher  or  seller  of  meat  or 
maker  or  seller  of  small  goods,  the  governor  in  council  may  if  he 
think  fit  from  time  to  time  appoint  a  Special  Board  consisting  of  not 
less  than  four  or  more  than  ten  members  elected  as  may  be  prescribed, 
and  a  chairman,  and  may  at  any  time  remove  any  member  of  the 
Special  Board.  In  fixing  such  lowest  prices  or  rates  the  Special 
Board  shall  take  into  consideration  the  nature,  kind,  and  class  of  the 
work  and  the  mode  and  manner  in  which  the  work  is  to  be  done  and 
the  age  and  the  sex  of  the  workers  and  any  matter  which  may  from 

1  Loc.  cit.,  pp.  25-26. 


208         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

time  to  time  be  prescribed.  Provided  that  no  such  Special  Board 
shall  be  so  appointed  except  for  the  process,  trade,  or  business  of  a 
butcher  or  seller  of  meat  or  maker  or  seller  of  small  goods,  and  except 
in  the  case  of  any  trade  or  business  which  at  the  commencement  of 
this  act  is  included  under  the  provisions  of  the  Factories  and  Shops 
Acts  as  regards  Special  Boards,  unless  a  resolution  has  been  passed 
by  either  House  of  Parliament  declaring  that  it  is  expedient  to  appoint 
such  Special  Board. 

The  board  may  fix  either  a  time  rate  or  a  piecework  rate  (based 
on  the  time  rate)  of  wages  or  both,  except  that  "  for  wholly  or 
partly  preparing  or  manufacturing  outside  a  factory  or  work- 
room articles  of  clothing  or  wearing  apparel  a  piecework  price 
or  rate  only  shall  be  fixed."  The  occupier  of  a  factory  or  work- 
room may  require  the  board  to  fix  a  piecework  rate  for  persons 
operating  machines.  Instead  of  specifying  piecework  rates  the 
board  may  determine  that  such  rates  based  on  the  time  rates 
fixed  by  the  board  may  be  paid,  and  any  employer  who  pays 
piecework  rates  under  this  provision  must  base  them  "  on  the 
earnings  of  an  average  worker  working  under  like  conditions  to 
those  for  which  the  piecework  prices  or  rates  are  fixed  and  who 
is  paid  by  time  at  the  wages  rates  fixed  by  such  Special  Board  "  ; 
the  Inspector  of  Factories  may  require  a  list  of  such  piecework 
rates  to  be  sent  to  him,  and  if  he  is  dissatisfied  with  them  he 
may  get  the  proper  board  to  fix  a  suitable  rate,  the  employer 
being  bound  to  pay  to  his  employees  twice  the  amount  by  which 
his  wages  are  deficient  for  the  period  elapsing  after  the  inspector 
has  given  him  notice  of  his  dissatisfaction.  When  a  time  rate 
only  has  been  fixed  by  a  board  it  is  illegal  to  pay  piecework 
rates.  The  board  shall  also  fix  the  number  and  determine  the 
wages  of  apprentices  or  improvers  or  both  ;  determine  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  hours  to  be  worked  per  week  at  the  minimum 
wage ;  and  fix  rates  of  overtime.  A  minimum  wage  of  half  a 
crown  a  week  must  be  paid  to  any  person  employed  in  a  factory 
or  workroom  except  "any  member  of  the  employer's  family 
related  in  the  first  or  second  degree  by  blood  or  marriage  to 
the  employer."  "  If  it  is  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Chief 
Inspector  that  any  person  by  reason  of  age  or  infirmity  is  unable 


STATE  ARBITRATION   IN  AUSTRALASIA  209 

to  obtain  employment  at  the  minimum  wage  fixed  by  any  Special 
Board,"  a  renewable  license  to  work  at  a  specified  less  wage  for 
twelve  months  may  be  issued. 

A  first  breach  of  the  act  is  punishable  by  fine  up  to  £10  ;  a 
second  by  fine  from  ^5  to  ,£25  ;  and  a  third  by  fine  from  £50 
to  £100  and  cancellation  of  the  registration  of  the  factory  or 
workroom.  A  determination  of  a  special  board  can  be  challenged 
for  illegality  before  the  supreme  court  only,  and  the  governor 
may  suspend  a  determination  for  six  months  to  give  the  board 
an  opportunity  of  reinvestigating  the  case  and  deciding  whether 
to  alter  or  adhere  to  its  decision.  A  determination  once  fixed 
continues  in  force  until  altered.  The  members  of  the  boards  are 
elected  one  half  by  the  employers,  one  half  by  the  workmen,  lists 
of  those  qualified  to  vote  being  prepared  from  information  sup- 
plied by  the  employers.  In  the  case  of  the  special  board  for 
men's  and  boys'  clothing  the  representatives  of  the  employers 
must  consist  of  three  representatives  of  makers  of  ready-made 
clothing  and  two  of  makers  of  order  clothing,  elected  by  separate 
rolls  of  voters.  Owing  to  difficulties  arising  from  the  number  of 
Chinese  engaged  in  the  furniture  trade  the  special  board  in  that 
industry  is  appointed  by  the  governor  in  council.  The  chairman 
of  a  board  is  appointed  by  the  governor  on  the  nomination  of  the 
other  members.  The  term  of  office  of  a  board  is  two  years,  and 
the  chairman  is  paid  £i  and  the  members  los.  for  a  whole-day 
sitting  and  half  those  fees  for  a  half -day  sitting. 

Under  the  Act  of  1 896  six  special  boards  were  appointed  : 
Bakers,  Boot  Makers,  Clothing  Manufacturers,  Furniture  Man- 
ufacturers, Shirt  Manufacturers,  and  Underclothing  Manufac- 
turers. Under  the  Act  of  1900  twenty-one  more  boards  were 
appointed  up  to  the  end  of  1900  :  Butchers,  Brick  Makers,  Car- 
riage Makers,  Cigar  Makers,  Confectioners,  Coopers,  Engrav- 
ers, Fellmongers,  Jam  Manufacturers,  Jewelers,  Millet-Broom 
Makers,  Pastry  Cooks,  Plate-Glass  Workers,  Printers,  Pottery 
Makers,  Saddlers,  Stonecutters,  Tanners,  Tinsmiths,  Wood 
Workers,  and  Woolen  Workers.  In  1901  and  1902  eleven  addi- 
tional boards  have  been  appointed,  making  a  total  of  thirty-eight 
boards  settling  the  conditions  of  labor  in  trifles  employing  35,000 


210         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


men  out  of  a  total  of  57,000  engaged  in  factories  and  workshops. 
The  Act  of  1900  came  to  an  end  in  the  summer  of  1902,  when 
an  unexpected  general  election  prevented  its  renewal ;  but  both 
sides  pledged  themselves  to  reenact  it  as  soon  as  the  new  Parlia- 
ment met.  During  the  brief  period  of  its  abeyance  there  was 
an  ugly  relapse  of  some  of  the  employers  into  the  old  sweating 
practices,  which  taught  both  public  and  politicians  the  sharp  and 
needed  lesson  that  the  baser  sort  of  master  is  not  easily  reformed. 
As  soon  as  the  new  session  opened  the  act  was  renewed  for  a 
further  period. 

The  most  significant  fact  about  the  later  boards  is  that  many 
of  them  were  asked  for  by  many  of  the  employers  in  the  trades 
concerned.  This  eloquent  testimony  to  the  utility  of  the  boards 
of  1896  will  lead  us  to  look  with  leniency  on  the  defects  which 
were  discovered  in  their  working.  The  general  results  as  to 
wages  will  be  seen  from  the  following  table : 


Average  Weekly  Wage 

Minimum  Wage 

1896 

1901 

Baking,  Males    

f  I     I  2  S.     ^d. 

£2     2s.  6d. 

is.  ^  d.  per  hour 

Clothing,  Males      .... 

i   15     3 

2    o     5 

7-r.  6d.  per  8-hour  day 

Clothing,  Females       .     .     . 

i5     5 

18    3 

3-r.  4</.  per  8-hour  day 

Boots  Males 

i     6  10 

I    14      5 

7  s.  per  8-hour  day 

Boots,  Females      .... 

13     4 

15    3 

3-r.  4</.  per  8-hour  day 

Shirts,  Females      .... 

14     5 

14     8 

4</.  per  hour 

Underclothing,  Females  .     . 

ii     3 

12     7 

^d.  per  hour 

(1898) 

Furniture,  Males    .... 

i     9     7 

207 

i  s.  per  hour 

Furniture,  Females     .     .     . 

14     i 

i     o     4 

3J-.  <\d.  per  8-hour  day 

The  average  wages  of  men  and  women  are  of  course  much  higher 
when  allowance  is  made  for  the  children  and  young  persons 
employed,  and  in  the  case  of  time  workers  they  are  always  well 
above  the  legal  minimum.  The  number  of  apprentices  fixed  in 
different  cases  is  as  below : 

Clothing,  one  male  apprentice  or  improver  to  every  three  male  adults ; 
one  female  apprentice  or  improver  to  every  two  female  adults. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  211 

Boots,  three  female  apprentices  or  improvers  to  every  two  female 

adults. 

Shirts,  one  female  apprentice  or  improver  to  every  three  female  adults. 
Underclothing,  two  female  apprentices  or  improvers  to  every  female 

adult. 

Furniture,  one  male  apprentice  or  improver  to  every  four  male  adults. 
Butchers,  one  male  apprentice  or  improver  to  every  three  male  adults. 

In  the  shirt  trade  employers  are  allowed  to  fix  piecework 
rates  inside  factories,  provided  they  enable  an  average  worker 
to  earn  not  less  than  ^d.,  4%d.,  and  $d.  per  hour  according  to 
the  class  of  work  done.  In  the  underclothing  trade,  owing  to  the 
hundreds  of  lines  manufactured,  the  employers  are  also  allowed 
to  fix  their  own  piecework  rates  based  on  the  time-wage  mini- 
mum of  ^d.  per  hour.  "The  utmost  that  can  be  said  in  favor 
of  this  system  of  fixing  piecework  rates,"  according  to  the  Chief 
Inspector  in  his  report  for  1 899,  "  is  that  it  is  better  than  nothing 
and  enables  the  department  to  interfere  when  competition  cuts 
the  prices  so  low  that  even  a  skilled  worker  cannot  earn  the  ^d. 
per  hour  fixed  by  the  determination." 

The  object  of  the  act  was  to  prevent  sweating,  and  on  this 
point  Judge  Backhouse  says  :  "  That  the  act  has  to  a  large 
extent  put  a  stop  to  <  sweating '  there  can  be  little  doubt,  but 
it  is  very  questionable  whether,  as  far  at  least  as  some  of  the 
workers  are  concerned,  a  state  of  things  has  not  been  brought 
about  which  is  quite  as  unsatisfactory."  Before  the  Commission 
on  Unemployment  in  1899  it  was  maintained  by  the  employers 
that  it  was  more  profitable  to  employ  young  and  quick  men  at 
the  minimum  wage,  and  therefore  the  old  and  slow  workers  were 
displaced  in  greater  numbers  ;  that  girls  were  dismissed  as  soon 
as  they  had  finished  their  apprenticeship ;  that  workers  had  to 
work  harder  and  more  consistently  ;  and  that  for  all  these  reasons 
the  Factory  Acts  tended  to  create  unemployment.  Particular 
complaint  was  made  about  the  boot  trade,  where  the  determina- 
tion of  the  board  came  into  force  on  December  29,  1 897,  and  it 
was  shown  that  the  number  of  persons  employed  fell  from  4590 
in  1897  (after  having  risen  steadily  from  3795  in  1894)  to  4235  in 
1 898.  Mr.  Harkness,  one  of  the  chief  manufacturers,  declared  : 


212         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

I  freely  admit  that  the  average  earnings  of  the  operatives  actually 
in  work  have  been  substantially  increased  by  the  minimum  weekly 
wage,  the  established  piecework  rates,  and  by  the  restriction  of  boy 
labor.  Those  in  employment,  of  course,  form  the  large  majority  of  the 
workers,  but  it  is  no  consolation  to  operatives  debarred  from  working 
by  the  conditions  now  prevailing  to  know  that  those  conditions  have 
operated  to  the  advantage  of  those  more  favorably  circumstanced 
than  themselves. 

Mr.  Peacock,  the  Chief  Secretary,  suggested  that  the  decrease 
fell  on  apprentices  and  improvers.  He  said  : 

In  one  factory  there  were  formerly  15  males,  20  apprentices,  and  3 
improvers,  now  there  are  24  males,  6  apprentices,  and  7  improvers ; 
in  another  there  had  been  10  males,  7  apprentices,  and  i  improver, 
now  there  are  12  males,  3  apprentices,  and  3  improvers;  in  another 
there  had  been  15  males  and  17  apprentices  and  improvers,  now  there 
are  56  males,  13  apprentices,  and  8  improvers.  It  had  been  predicted 
that  the  minimum  would  become  the  maximum,  but  this  was  not  so. 
There  were  1749  males  last  week  in  in  factories.  Of  these,  439  or 
25  per  cent  were  paid  45 s.  or  more,  115  40 s.  to  45 s.,  and  221  were 
on  piecework,  leaving  974  who  were  getting  from  36^.  to  40 s.,  and  a 
good  many  of  these  were  getting  less  than  36 s.  before  the  determina- 
tion. In  these  in  factories  there  were  only  4  where  the  wages  had 
been  reduced  to  36  s.  These  figures  were  obtained  by  special  inquiry.1 

At  that  time  36^.  was  the  minimum  wage.  The  workmen  also 
pointed  out  that  the  employers  had  worked  their  factories  day 
and  night  to  accumulate  stock  in  anticipation  of  the  act,  and 
that  stagnation  had  naturally  followed.  By  1900  the  trade  had 
to  a  great  extent  recovered,  the  persons  employed  in  that  year 
being  4304,  and  exports  having  risen  to  ,£61,463  compared  with 
£48,213  in  1897.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  trade  dur- 
ing the  last  few  years  has  suffered  from  American  competition- 
and  from  a  forty-five  per  cent  rise  in  the  price  of  raw  materials. 

The  incapacity  of  the  old  and  slow  to  earn  the  minimum  wage 
had  not  been  foreseen  by  the  framers  of  the  Act  of  1896,  and 
the  factory  department  had  to  prevent  injustice  by  issuing 
permits  to  such  persons  to  work  at  reduced  rates,  fifty-eight 

1  Melbourne  Age>  February  24,  1898. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  213 

being  granted  in  1899.  This  plan  was  legalized  in  1900,  but  it 
is  clumsy  compared  with  the  New  Zealand  method  of  meeting 
the  same  difficulty.  Judge  Backhouse  estimates  that  "at  least 
250  hands  "  are  employed  below  the  minimum  wage,  the  factory 
inspectors  being  deceived  by  false  entries  in  the  books.  The 
same  charge  of  evasion  is  made  with  regard  to  the  other  trades, 
but  what  the  chief  factory  inspector  said  in  his  report  for  1899 
about  the  baking  trade  applies  generally  :  "  I  have  never  been 
able  to  get  evidence  which  would  justify  such  a  charge ;  ...  if 
the  men  have  not  the  courage  to  see  that  they  get  their  legal 
rights,  I  do  not  see  what  further  can  be  done."  In  the  baking 
trade  evasion  was  practiced  by  working  men  part  of  their  time 
as  pastry  cooks,  but  that  section  of  the  trade  has  now  a  special 
board. 

One  notable  result  has  been  the  reduction  of  out-work  in  the 
clothing  trade,  where  the  piecework  rates  were  fixed  a  little 
higher  than  the  time  rates  to  compensate  the  workers  for  rent 
and  loss  of  time  in  conveying  goods.  The  employers  have  replied 
by  introducing  machinery  and  getting  the  work  done  in  their  fac- 
tories, —  exactly  the  result  which  all  students  of  the  "sweating" 
problem  wish  to  see  achieved. 

The  improved  organization  of  labor  which  always  follows  the 
enactment  of  factory  acts  is  again  exemplified  in  the  baking 
industry,  where  the  men  are  paid  as  much  now  for  forty-eight 
hours'  work  as  they  were  formerly  for  sixty,  but  do  as  much  in 
the  shorter  time  as  they  did  in  the  longer.  The  protection  which 
the  acts  have  been  to  the  workers  is  seen  in  the  case  of  dungaree 
trousers,  where  the  price  paid  by  the  wholesale  houses  to  the 
manufacturer  fell  from  i$s.  per  dozen  before  1897  to  fs.  6d. 
in  1899.  Under  free  competition  this  loss  would  have  fallen 
entirely  on  the  workers ;  under  the  acts  the  manufacturers 
recoup  themselves  by  better  organization  and  improved  methods, 
and  where  they  raise  the  price  to  the  warehouses  the  latter  still 
retain  an  ample  margin  of  profit  without  raising  prices  to  the 
consumer.  In  the  underclothing  trade,  that  special  home  of 
sweating,  it  is  worth  noting  that  the  lady  factory  inspector 
reports  that  the  home  workers  as  well  as  the  factory  workers 


214         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

have  "greatly  benefited"  by  the  act.  The  results  in  the  furni- 
ture trade  are  the  least  satisfactory  of  all,  owing  to  the  impossi- 
bility of  overcoming  deception  by  the  numerous  Chinese  in  the 
industry.  Here,  too,  the  "  old  and  slow  "  workmen  are  a  source 
of  trouble,  since  they  set  up  for  themselves  in  unlicensed  home 
workshops. 

Up  to  1895  trade  had  been  depressed ;  since  that  time  it  has 
gradually  recovered.  To  that  extent  the  rise  in  wages  may  be 
attributed  to  general  trade  conditions,  but  no  other  trades  show 
such  remarkable  increases  as  those  granted  by  the  special  boards. 
The  average  wage  in  the  printing  trade,  an  industry  which  is 
a  barometer  of  prosperity,  was  in  1897  27  s.  3  d.  and  in  1899 
27  s.  4  d.  The  average  wage  in  the  dressmaking  trade  was 
II  s.  i  d.  in  1897  and  10  s.  n  d.  in  1899;  in  biscuit  making 
1 8  s.  3  d.  in  1897  and  16  s.  3  d.  in  1899,  —  results  which  may 
with  advantage  be  compared  with  the  wages  in  cognate  trades 
under  special  boards.  Although  the  employment  figures  of  the 
regulated  trades  show  a  steady  rise  industry  has  not  been  in 
the  flourishing  condition  which  has  prevailed  in  New  Zealand, 
but  while  improving  has  been  on  the  whole  dull.  We  are, 
therefore,  by  the  experience  gained  in  Victoria,  able  to  dis- 
count the  criticism  leveled  at  the  New  Zealand  success  that  it 
is  due  entirely  to  the  prosperity  of  the  colony.  In  good  times 
and  dull  times  we  learn  that  regulation  of  wages  is  possible. 

As  much  complaint,  if  not  more,  has  been  made  about  the  regu- 
lation of  the  number  of  apprentices  as  about  the  determination 
of  wages,  the  employers  contending,  as  they  also  contended  in 
New  Zealand,  "that  in  time  to  come  there  will  not  be  a  sufficient 
number  of  skilled  hands  to  meet  the  requirements  of  some  of  the 
industries."  Complaints  were  particularly  abundant  in  the  cloth- 
ing trade,  where  the  scarcity  of  competent  female  labor  caused 
employers  to  assert  that- the  proportion  of  female  apprentices 
permitted,  one  to  three  adults,  was  too  small.  The  fault,  how- 
ever, lay  largely  with  employers,  especially  in  the  order  trade ; 
for  while  in  the  ready-made  clothing  trade  the  full  legal  numbers 
were  always  employed,  one  of  the  lady  inspectors  reported  in 
1899  about  the  order  trade: 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  215 

There  are  a  very  considerable  number  of  employers  in  this  branch 
of  the  trade  who  do  not  take  apprentices  at  all  and  who  will  not  take 
them,  preferring  that  other  people  should  have  the  bother  of  teaching 
them,  and  then  expressing  astonishment  at  the  fact  that  so  few  skilled 
hands  are  obtainable.  .  .  .  The  pieceworkers,  who  are  supposed  to 
gain  by  having  an  apprentice,  do  not  care  to  take  them,  as  they  say 
they  lose  more  in  teaching  the  girl  than  they  gain  by  her  extra  work. 
The  employees  on  weekly  wages  could  not  possibly  have  any  objec- 
tion to  taking  apprentices,  but  the  employer  is  often  averse  to  it,  as 
he  considers  that  too  much  of  the  time  of  the  employee  is  wasted  in 
teaching  girls  who  may  leave  at  any  moment. 

The  difficulty  is  but  one  particular  instance  of  the  universal 
breakdown  of  apprenticeship  which  we  find  in  all  industrial 
countries,  and  it  will  be  interesting  to  observe  whether  the 
legislatures  of  Victoria  and  New  Zealand  will  be  successful  in 
retaining  a  system  for  which,  despite  its  faults,  we  have  so  far 
been  unable  to  find  a  completely  satisfactory  substitute  in  any 
scheme  of  manual  training.  Meanwhile  the  trouble  in  the  Vic- 
torian clothing  trade  has  not  been  appeased  by  raising  the  pro- 
portion of  female  apprentices  to  one  to  every  two  adults,  and 
since  the  employers  will  not  organize  the  industry,  the  govern- 
ment must  by  technical  schools  or  otherwise  see  that  the  trade 
does  not  leave  the  colony. 

The  clothing  trade  well  exemplifies  the  difficulty  of  regulating 
a  thoroughly  disorganized  trade.  While  the  Special  Board  was 
toiling  through  nine  months  in  preparing  an  exhaustive  "  deter- 
mination "  of  thirty-five  closely  printed  foolscap  pages,  the 
employers  were  frantically  laying  up  stock,  and  in  the  slack 
time  which  necessarily  followed  they  took  advantage  of  the 
necessities  of  their  work  people  to  try  evasions  of  the  law. 
When  prosecuted  for  illegally  employing  an  apprentice  they 
succeeded  in  getting  the  conviction  upset  by  maintaining,  in 
the  absence  of  indentures,  that  she  was  an  improver.  The  mini- 
mum wage  for  apprentices  was  evaded  by  requiring  back  as  a 
premium  on  Monday  morning  the  half  crown  which  had  been 
paid  as  wages  the  previous  Saturday,  and  by  other  variations  of 
the  premium  system.  By  the  Act  of  1900  all  such  evasions  are 


216         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

prohibited.  In  the  boot  trade  more  apprentices  are  now  at  work 
than  were  employed  in  1896  when  there  was  no  limitation,  and 
the  factory  inspectors  answer  the  cry  that  there  is  a  difficulty  in 
getting  skilled  tradeswomen  by  pointing  out  that  the  employers 
do  not  train  their  apprentices  properly.  A  dearth  of  workers  is 
also  reported  in  the  underclothing  trade,  but  a  factory  inspector 
suggests  that  "  owing  to  the  very  low  prices  paid  in  the  past 
there  has  not  been  sufficient  inducement  for  girls  to  stay  at  the 
trade." 

The  Butchers'  Board  introduces  us  to  a  special  difficulty  aris- 
ing out  of  the  social  habits  of  Australia  and  probably  not  exist- 
ing elsewhere.  The  average  wage  fixed  since  January  i,  1901,  is 
45  s.  per  week  of  fifty-two  hours.  Judge  Backhouse  says  : 

The  general  complaint  of  the  master  butchers  is  that  they  have  a 
difficulty  in  arranging  that  the  men  should  work  the  prescribed  hours 
only.  The  most  of  the  business  is  done  in  the  early  part  of  the  day, 
and  work  must  commence  at  the  latest  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  to 
enable  breakfast  meat  to  be  delivered,  while  the  shop  cannot  shut 
before  five  unless  the  public  is  to  be  inconvenienced.  To  get  over 
the  difficulty  some  employers  give  two  half  holidays  to  their  men, 
arranging  the  times  so  that  they  always  have  some  one  in  the  shop ; 
others  allow  long  dinner  hours.  The  price  of  meat  has  risen  for  the 
best  joints  \\d.  per  pound,  most  of  which  I  think  is  due  to  the  higher 
price  of  stock,  but  some  undoubtedly  to  the  rate  of  wages  and  hours 
fixed.1 

t  In  all  the  trades  under  the  newer  boards  the  same  story  is 
told  of  increased  wages,  of  the  decrease  of  sweating,  of  the  gen- 
eral prevalence  of  average  wages  considerably  above  the*  fixed 
minimum,  and  of  the  resulting  better  organization  of  industry. 
The  general  opinion  of  employers  after  experience  of  the  new 
conditions  is  that  they  would  not  return  to  the  old.  Of  course 
there  has  been  some  friction.  The  employers'  representatives  on 
the  Woolen  Trade  Board  objected  to  one  of  the  men's  represent- 
atives since  he  was  not  practically  acquainted  with  the  trade,  but 
after  some  months'  negotiations  the  difficulty  was  settled,  and  a 
"determination"  embodying  fifty  rates  of  wages  is  now  in  force. 

1  Report  of  Royal  Commission,  loc.  cit.,  p.  34. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  217 

.  The  master  fellmongers  retired  from  their  board  in  the  spring  of 

1901  because  the  majority  carried  a  resolution  fixing  a  48-hour 
week.    No  other  representatives  of  the  employers  would  take 
their  places,  so  the  governor  in  council  appointed  five  persons  to 
fill  the  vacancies  and  a  determination  was  framed.    The  employers 
then  unsuccessfully  appealed  to  the  supreme  court  to  quash  the 
determination  on  the  ground  that  the  governor's  nominees  could 
not  be  representatives   of  the  employers  under  the  act.    Still 
bent  on  resistance,  most  of  them  closed  their  premises  for  a  time, 
and  the  309  men  at  work  in  1900  were  reduced  to  127  in  1901. 
But  the  workmen  stood  firm  by  the  board,  and  in  the  spring  of 

1902  only  the  two  largest  yards  were  still  closed.    Trouble  is 
pending  also  in  the  jam  and  confectionery  trades,  where  wages 
have  been  fixed  not  according  to  the  skill  but  according  to  the 
age  of  the  workers.    This  naturally  works  to  the  detriment  of 
the  women  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  is  unequivocally 
condemned  by  the  factory  inspectors. 

On  the  whole,  while  we  must  admit  that  there  has  been  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  friction  in  the  working  of  the  Victorian  wage 
boards,  there  has  not  been  more  than  might  reasonably  have  been 
expected.  Administrators  tackled  the  hardest  part  of  the  indus- 
trial problem  first  and  gained  their  experience  by  dealing  with 
the  chaotic  sweated  trades  instead  of  with  those  which  had 
reached  a  fair  stage  of  organization  and  where  employers  and 
employed  were  trained  to  negotiation.  Comparing  the  Victorian 
with  the  New  Zealand  system,  the  former  has  the  advantage  thai 
no  dispute  is  necessary  to  set  the  law  in  motion,  and  that  the 
legal  determination  of  wages  is  posited  as  part  of  the  established 
order  of  things.  On  the  other  hand,  the  New  Zealand  require- 
ment that  the  initiative  must  be  taken  by  an  organized  body 
throws  a  grave  responsibility  on  the  plaintiffs,  and  the  careful 
preparation  of  their  case  which  is  required  necessarily  exerts  a 
sobering  influence.  In  New  Zealand  the  administration  of  the 
law  is  kept  out  of  reach  of  the  politicians,  while  in  Victoria  the 
consent  of  Parliament  is  needed  for  the  formation  of  new  boards, 
and  "determinations"  can  be  suspended  on  appeal  to  the  gov- 
ernor, provisions  which  render  possible  at  least  the  suspicion  of 


2i8         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

political  influence.  The  difference  in  the  powers  of  the  two  sets 
of  authorities  is  obvious,  but  the  institution  of  trade  boards  in 
Victoria  will  commend  itself  to  the  workers  in  older  settled  lands 
rather  than  the  local  boards  of  New  Zealand.  New  Zealand  has 
another  advantage  in  the  greater  elasticity  of  its  law.  Other 
defects  of  the  Victorian  law  are  the  cumbrous  system  of  electoral 
rolls  and  the  clumsy  method  of  dealing  with  the  old  and  slow. 
The  term  of  office  of  the  boards,  two  years,  is  also  too  short. 
Finally,  it  is  a  serious  omission  that  nothing  is  done  to  foster 
organization  among  the  workers. 

The  legislation  of  the  other  colonies  can  be  dismissed  more 
briefly.  The  South  Australian  Conciliation  Act  of  1894,  very 
similar  in  principle  to  the  New  Zealand  Act  of  the  same  year, 
was  nullified  in  the  first  case  raised  under  it  by  the  employer 
adopting  the  simple  device  of  discharging  his  workmen  on  hear- 
ing that  there  would  be  a  reference,  and  maintaining  that  having 
no  employees  he  had  no  dispute.  In  December,  1 900,  that  meas- 
ure was  supplemented  by  a  Factories  Amendment  Act  providing 
for  the  establishment  of  minimum  wage  boards  on  exactly  the 
same  plan  as  in  Victoria ;  the  lowest  minimum  wage  for  any 
employee  was  fixed  at  4  s.  per  week,  and  the  boards  were  enabled 
to  give  special  rates  to  the  old  and  infirm.  It  is  as  yet  too  soon 
to  ascertain  how  the  act  has  worked.  In  West  Australia,  also,  in 
December,  1900,  the  Industrial  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  Act 
became  law.  Judge  Backhouse,  writing  some  six  months  later, 
says :  "  It  is  modeled  on  the  New  Zealand  acts.  Although  I 
understand  there  have  been  industrial  disputes,  neither  side  has, 
as  far  as  I  could  learn,  taken  advantage  of  its  provisions." 

After  a  failure  in  the  preceding  year  the  Industrial  Arbitration 
Act  of  New  South  Wales  was  assented  to  on  December  10,  1901, 
a  measure  presenting  many  remarkable  features.  Based,  as  every 
section-  shows,  on  the  New  Zealand  acts,  it  differs  from  them 
fundamentally  in  omitting  the  boards  of  conciliation.  The  reason 
for  this  omission  was,  doubtless,  partly  the  greater  concentration 
of  industry  obliterating  local  patriotism,  partly  objection  to  the 

1  Loc.  cit.,  p.  34. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  219 

delays  under  the  New  Zealand  law ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
too  high  a  price  has  not  been  paid  for  rapidity  of  decision.  As 
already  indicated,  there  are  many  merits  in  the  dual  authorities 
established  in  the  southern  colony.  The  industrial  unions  of 
workers  are  defined  to  be  trade  unions,  or  branches  thereof, 
registered  under  the  act  and  thereby  incorporated  solely  for  the 
purposes  of  the  act,  a  bold  recognition  of  the  utility  of  trade 
unions  not  possible  seven  years  earlier.  Industrial  unions  of 
employers  are  any  person  or  company  or  association  of  persons 
or  companies  employing  at  least  fifty  work  people.  Industrial 
agreements  may  be  made  and  enforced  at  law.  The  court  of 
arbitration  consists  of  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court  and  two 
members  nominated  by  the  governor  on  the  recommendation  of 
the  industrial  unions  of  employers  and  workers  respectively,  the 
members  of  the  court  holding  office  for  three  years  ;  the  salaries 
are  ^750  per  annum  each.  The  fullest  freedom  is  conceded  to 
the  court  to  exercise  its  functions  in  the  manner  which  may 
appear  to  it  most  suitable,  and  its  decisions  are  final.  Disputes 
may  be  referred  to  the  court  by  any  of  the  parties  thereto,  if 
industrial  unions,  and  by  the  registrar  or  chief  executive  officer 
of  the  court  when  any  one  of  the  parties  is  not  an  industrial 
union.  This  latter  provision  is  intended  to  make  the  act  opera- 
tive even  in  unorganized  industries  and  contemplates  a  state  of 
things  worse  than  has  been  found  in  New  Zealand,  where  even 
the  sweated  trades  have  organized  to  take  advantage  of  the  law. 
A  strike  or  lockout  before  a  reasonable  time  has  elapsed  for  a 
reference  to  the  court  or  while  proceedings  are  pending  is  punish- 
able by  fine  up  to  .£1000  or  imprisonment  up  to  two  months. 
This  drastic  method  of  abolishing  the  right  to  lock  out  aggrieved 
employees  is  probably  the  most  forcible  limitation  of  the  liberty 
of  employers  which  has  yet  been  legalized  in  any  free  country. 
Whether  the  punishment  be  ever  inflicted  or  not,  the  mere  fact 
that  it  was  instituted  by  the  legislature  is  eloquent  of  the  state  of 
public  feeling  in  the  colony.  The  act  goes  on : 

If  an  employer  dismisses  from  his  employment  any  employee  by  rea- 
son merely  of  the  fact  that  the  employee  is  a  member  of  an  industrial 
union  or  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  an  award,  order,  or  agreement, 


220        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

such  employer  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  not  exceeding  £20  for  each 
employee  so  dismissed.  In  every  case  it  shall  lie  on  the  employer  to 
satisfy  the  court  that  such  employee  was  dismissed  by  reason  of  some 
facts  other  than  those  above  mentioned  in  this  section.  Provided  that 
no  proceedings  shall  be  begun  under  this  section  except  by  leave  of 
the  court. 

The  most  notable  clause  is  the  "  common  rule "  clause,  for 
which  Mr.  Wise,  the  author  of  the  act,  said  he  was  indebted  to 
the  study  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb's  Industrial  Democ- 
racy; and  he  maintained  that  it  was  "the  most  logical,  com- 
plete, and  effective  method  of  enforcing  the  awards."  It  provides 
that  in  any  proceeding  the  court  may 

(i)  declare  that  any  practice,  regulation,  rule,  custom,  term  of  agree- 
ment, condition  of  employment,  or  dealing  whatsoever  in  relation  to 
an  industrial  matter,  shall  be  a  common  rule  of  the  industry  affected 
by  the  proceeding;  (2)  direct  within  what  limits  of  area  and  subject 
to  what  conditions  and  exceptions  such  common  rule  shall  be  binding 
upon  persons  engaged  in  the  said  industry,  whether  as  employer  or  as 
employee,  and  whether  members  of  an  industrial  union  or  not ;  (3)  fix 
penalties  for  any  breach  or  nonobservance  of  such  common  rule  as 
declared  as  aforesaid. 

In  New  Zealand  the  same  purpose  of  bringing  the  rate-cutting 
employer  and  his  nonunionist  accomplice  under  the  same  rules  as 
their  honorable  fellows  has  been  achieved  by  the  slower  method 
of  piling  award  on  award  until  the  whole  colony  has  been  brought 
under  regulation  ;  but  even  in  New  Zealand  the  need  for  a  swifter 
jurisdiction  to  meet  the  case  of  competing  industrial  districts  has 
been  acknowledged  by  the  provision  for  colonial  awards  under  the 
Act  of  1900.  The  maximum  penalties  for  any  breach  or  non- 
observance  of  any  award,  order,  or  direction  are  a  fine  not  exceed- 
ing ,£500  in  the  case  of  an  industrial  union  or  any  person  bound 
by  the  award  who  is  not  a  member  of  an  industrial  union,  and 
a  fine  not  exceeding  £$  in  the  case  of  any  individual  member  of 
an  industrial  union.  The  awards  are  not  limited  in  time.  Lastly, 
it  may  be  noted  that  contrary  to  the  excellent  New  Zealand  prece- 
dent parties  may  appear  before  the  court  by  counsel. 


STATE  ARBITRATION  IN  AUSTRALASIA  221 

This  summary  of  Australasian  legislation  conclusively  proves 
that  the  legal  regulation  of  the  conditions  of  labor,  whether  by 
compulsory  arbitration  or  some  other  form,  is  possible.  It  would 
be  too  much  to  say  that  it  is  possible  under  all  circumstances,  but 
it  has  been  shown  that  under  certain  widely  varying  circumstances 
it  has  been  successful.  It  can  no  longer  be  disposed  of  by  a  pri- 
ori arguments  based  on  book  theories  of  economics  or  politics, 
and  that  alone  is  a  great  gain.  It  is  now  incumbent  on  the  older 
countries  with  more  complex  industries  to  take  up  the  experi- 
ment and  ascertain  the  value  of  the  principles  by  applying  them 
to  their  own  problems.  For  this  purpose  it  will  probably  be  best 
to  follow  Victoria  and  establish  trade  boards,  since  artisans,  in 
Great  Britain  at  least,  are  apt  to  show  great  distrust  and  jealousy 
of  the  interference  of  outsiders  with  their  trade.  The  new  method 
should  be  tried  first  in  one  or  two  selected  trades  and  gradually 
extended  to  others  as  experience  advised.  In  Great  Britain  suit- 
able trades  would  be  the  railway  workers,  who  are  already  in  favor 
of  the  principle,  and  the  miners,  who  have  had  a  long  experience 
of  the  working  of  conciliation.  A  court  of  arbitration,  appointed 
as  in  New  Zealand,  should  be  established  for  each  trade,  and* 
boards  of  conciliation  should  be  set  up  in  the  various  centers  of 
the  industry.  Generally  speaking,  the  procedure  of  New  Zealand 
should  be  followed,  care  being  taken  to  keep  all  the  provisions 
of  the  law  as  elastic  as  possible.  The  courts  and  boards  should 
create  their  own  methods  of  working  from  their  own  experience 
and  should  strive  to  foster  conciliation  and  the  regulation  of 
industry  by  voluntary  agreements.  Employers  would  gain  by  the 
stability  of  industry,  workers  by  their  rise  in  status.  A  grave 
problem  is  before  us  ;  it  is  worth  while,  it  is  imperative,  to 
attempt  a  solution.  HENRY  w  MACROSTY. 

LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  ECONOMICS. 


• 


IX 

LABOR  CONDITIONS  IN  SLAUGHTERING  AND 
MEAT  PACKING1 

On  September  9  the  Executive  Board  of  the  Amalgamated 
Meat  Cutters  and  Butcher  Workmen  of  North  America  "  called 
off  "  the  strike  of  their  50,000  members  against  the  five  packing 
companies.  In  the  Chicago  stock  yards,  where  22,000  came 
out,  followed  by  8000  allied  trades,  this  was  the  third  general 
strike.  For  fifteen  years  after  the  Knights  of  Labor  strike  in 
1886  every  man  or  woman  who  ventured  to  start  an  organiza- 
tion was  discharged  ;  and  after  1 890,  when  the  "  combine  "  of 
packers  became  effective,  many  of  them  were  blacklisted.  The 
strike  of  1894  was  sympathetic  and  unorganized.  The  strike 
of  1904  was  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  union;  for  the 
employers  had  offered  arbitration  sixteen  hours  before  the  men 
went  out,  and  arbitration  was  what  the  leaders  had  asked  for. 
They  were  out  eight  days  and  went  back  on  an  agreement  to 
arbitrate,  but  after  an  hour's  work  were  again  called  out  on  the 
ground  of  discrimination.  This  was  in  violation  of  the  agree- 
ment just  made,  which  bound  them  and  their  employers  to 
submit  discriminations  and  all  other  grievances  to  arbitration. 
The  mistake  was  natural.  It  followed  a  history  of  grievances 
on  both  sides  and  a  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  workmen 
that  the  packers  were  determined  to  destroy  their  union. 

The  national  union  dates  from  July,  1897,  and  is  designed  to 
include  all  wage-earners  in  slaughtering  and  packing  establish- 
ments and  all  meat  cutters  employed  in  stores.  The  country 
was  fairly  organized  before  Chicago  was  attacked  in  1900.  For 
a  year  or  more  the  organizations  were  secret,2  but  eventually 

1  From  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  XIX,  1904,  pp.  1-32. 

2  Conditions  described  in  this  article  are  mainly  those  of  Chicago,  the  center 
of  the  industry. 

222 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  223 

they  felt  strong  enough  to  throw  off  their  cloak ;  and  in  August, 
1901,  they  united  in  the  Packing  Trades  Council.  This  even- 
tually comprised  twenty-two  locals  under  the  jurisdiction  of  one 
national  organization.  Each  local  is  organized  on  the  line  of  a 
department.  The  cattle  butchers  form  one  local.  Others  are 
the  sheep  butchers,  pork  butchers,  beef  carriers,  beef-casing 
workers,  sausage  makers,  wool  workers,  hide-cellar  men,  can- 
ning-room employees,  oleo  and  butterine  workers,  and  twelve 
more.  At  first  only  the  skilled  men  in  each  department  were 
organized ;  but  these  gradually  extended  their  numbers  to  take 
in  the  unskilled,  and  finally  departments  altogether  unskilled 
were  organized.  Each  local  made  its  own  demands  and  agree- 
ments at  different  times  under  the  approval  of  the  national 
organization;  but  in  May,  1904,  a  combined  scale  for  all  de- 
partments and  classes  of  labor  was  submitted  to  the  employers. 
It  was  this  scale  that  precipitated  the  strike ;  and  the  point 
of  division  was  the  demand  for  a  minimum  wage  of  20  cents 
an  hour,  afterwards  reduced  to  i8|-  cents,  for  all  unskilled 
labor.  Demands  of  this  kind  had  been  made  and  granted  in 
departments  where  skilled  workmen  such  as  cattle  butchers 
and  sheep  butchers  prevailed,  but  had  been  rejected  in  other 
departments. 

In  analyzing  the  labor  situation  in  the  industry,  we  may  begin 
with  the  leading  group  of  workmen,  the  cattle  butchers. 

The  cattle  butchers'  local  unions  number  5500  of  the  50,000 
members,  and  of  these  about  2000  are  the  most  highly  skilled  of 
all  the  workmen  in  the  slaughtering  and  packing  industry.  Their 
importance  has  brought  to  them  the  title  of  "  butcher  aristoc- 
racy." Their  strategic  position  is  explained  by  the  character 
and  expensiveness  of  the  material  they  work  upon.  The  cattle 
butcher  can  do  more  damage  than  any  other  workman ;  for  a 
cut  in  "the  hide  depreciates  its  value  70  cents,  and  a  spotted  or 
rough  carcass  will  be  the  last  to  sell,  with  the  risk  of  the  rapid 
depreciation  of  a  perishable  product.  The  sheep  butcher  merely 
"  pulls  off "  three  quarters  of  the  hide,  but  the  cattle  butcher 
can  pull  off  only  2  per  cent.  The  entire  hide  must  be  neatly 
cut  off,  leaving  the  "fell,"  or  mucous  covering,  intact  on  the 


224 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


carcass  to  give  it  a  good  appearance.  The  "splitter,"  too, 
must  make  a  neat  and  smooth  cut  straight  down  the  middle  of 
the  ivorylike  "fins"  of  the  backbone,  or  the  wholesaler  cannot 
quickly  dispose  of  the  piece.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  high 
skill  required,  the  proportion  of  skilled  workmen  in  the  butchers' 
gang  is  very  small,  owing  to  a  minute  division  of  labor.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  another  industry  where  division  of 
labor  has  been  so  ingeniously  and  microscopically  worked  out. 
The  animal  has  been  surveyed  and  laid  off  like  a  map  ;  and 
the  men  have  been  classified  in  over  thirty  specialties  and 
twenty  rates  of  pay  from  16  cents  to  50  cents  an  hour.  The 
5<D-cent  man  is  restricted  to  using  the  knife  on  the  most  delicate 
parts  of  the  hide  (floorman)  or  to  using  the  ax  in  splitting  the 
backbone  (splitter);  and  wherever  a  less  skilled  man  can  be 
slipped  in  at  18  cents,  i8|-  cents,  20  cents,  21  cents,  22  J  cents, 
24  cents,  25  cents,  and  so  on,  a  place  is  made  for  him  and 
an  occupation  mapped  out.  In  working  on  the  hide  alone  there 
are  nine  positions  at  eight  different  rates  of  pay.  A  2O-cent 
man  pulls  off  the  tail,  a  22^-cent  man  pounds  off  another  part 
where  the  hide  separates  readily,  and  the  knife  of  the  40- 
cent  man  cuts  a  different  texture  and  has  a  different  "feel" 
from  that  of  the  5<D-cent  man.  Skill  has  become  specialized  to 
fit  the  anatomy. 

In  this  way,  in  a  gang  of  230  men  killing  105  cattle  an  hour 
there  are  but  n  men  paid  50  cents  an  hour,  3  men  paid  45 
cents,  while  the  number  getting  20  cents  and  over  is  86,  and 
the  number  getting  under  20  cents  is  144,  as  follows  : 


TYPICAL  CREW  OF  CATTLE  BUTCHERS  AND  HELPERS 


Rate  of  Pay 
per  Hour 


40 
32* 

3° 

27* 

26i 


Number  of 
Men  at  Rate 

•      .      .      .            .11 

Rate  of  Pay 
per  Hour 

25  cents    . 

Number  of 
Men  at  Rate 

...        6 

22*     " 

.     16 

6 

21         "          .      . 

2 

2O        "          ... 

2O 

2 

18*    "... 
15  to  1  8  cents     . 
eraee  21  cents 

•     •    •      5 
...  139 
Total  2^0  men 

6       Av 

SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  225 

The  table  on  the  following  page  shows  the  list  of  occupations 
as  provided  for  in  the  agreement  of  1903-1904,  with  the  num- 
ber of  men  in  each  occupation  for  a  gang  of  230,  their  rates  of 
pay,  and  their  schedule  of  output.  The  agreement  went  only 
as  far  as  knife  men,  who  received  20  cents  an  hour.  Those 
receiving  less  than  that  rate  were  the  shifting  population  of 
laborers  who  had  never  been  included  in  the  scale  and  who 
would  have  been  raised  to  a  minimum  of  18^  cents,  had  the 
demands  of  1904  been  granted. 

The  division  of  labor  grew  with  the  industry,  following  the 
introduction  of  the  refrigerator  car  and  the  marketing  of 
dressed  beef  in  the  decade  of  the  seventies.  Before  the  market 
was  widened  by  these  revolutionizing  inventions  the  killing 
gangs  were  small,  since  only  the  local  demands  were  supplied. 
But  when  the  number  of  cattle  to  be  killed  each  day  increased 
to  a  thousand  or  more  an  increasing  gang  or  crew  of  men  was 
put  together;  and  the  best  men  were  kept  at  the  most  exacting 
work.  At  what  point  the  greatest  economy  is  reached  was  dis- 
covered by  experiment  and  by  comparison  of  one  house  with 
another.  Each  firm  has  accurate  knowledge  of  the  labor  force 
and  the  output  of  every  other  house,  and  in  this  way  each 
improvement  becomes  general  and  each  superintendent  is  keyed 
up.  Taking  a  crew  of  230  butchers,  helpers,  and  laborers 
handling  1050  cattle  a  day  under  the  union  regulations  of  out- 
put, the  time  required  for  each  bullock  from  the  pen  to  the 
cooler,  the  hide  cellar,  and  all  the  other  departments  to  which 
the  animal  is  distributed  is  equivalent  to  131  minutes  for  one 
man.  But  this  is  made  up  of  6.4  minutes  for  the  5O-cent  man,  i| 
minutes  for  the  45-cent  man,  and  so  on ;  and  the  average  wage 
per  hour  for  the  gang  would  not  exceed  21  cents,  making  the 
entire  labor  cost  about  46  cents  per  bullock. 

Three  objects  were  gained  by  this  division  of  labor.  First, 
cheaper  men  —  unskilled  and  immigrant  labor  —  could  be  uti- 
lized in  large  numbers.  Second,  skilled  men  became  more  highly 
expert  in  the  quality  of  their  work.  While,  on  the  one  hand, 
this  greatly  increased  the  proportion  of  low-wage  men,  it  also 
pushed  up  the  wages  of  the  very  few  skilled  men  on  the  delicate 


226         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


CATTLE  BUTCHERS,  GANG  OF  230  MEN 


No.  of 
Men 

Position 

Scale  of  Wages 
per  Hour 

Scale  of  Work  (Number  of  Cattle 
per  Hour),   1903-1904 

Penner 

$o  1  84; 

Left  to  House  Committee 

I 

Knocker,  when  raising  gates 
and  dumping  out    .     .     . 

.24 
.24 

60 
80 

2 

Shackler                             .     . 

l8Jr 

Left  to  House  Committee 

2 

Hoister 

.20 

«     «         «               « 

f 

Sticking 

.32* 

i<            <(                     <C                                     (( 

4 

Heading  and  sticking  .     .     . 

•32* 
724- 

25 

7O 

.20 

Left  to  House  Committee 

2 

Pritcher  up 

.20 

U            <«                     «                                     «( 

I 

.20 

«          U                   ((                                  «( 

•7 

.224- 

TC 

2  C, 

25  sets 

14- 

2C 

80 

7 

Floorman                       •     • 

CQ 

I  e 

it 

Breast  sawyer           .... 

•  2C, 

7C 

ii 

Caul  puller      
Pulling    cauls    and    opening 

•  26i 
20 

50 
4O 

i 

Eich  opener    

20 

7C 

Tail  ripper           

.20 

2O 

3 

Fell  cutter  
Cord  cutter                             . 

.27! 

25 

Left  to  House  Committee 

2i 

Rumper                   '       ... 

AQ 

40 

c 

Fell  beater      .          .... 

224- 

3  { 

Fell  puller  

60 

I 

Gutter 

264- 

40 

2_1 

Backer 

A  C 

40 

^-J 

Tail  sawyer 

264- 

^o 

Splitter       

CQ 

2C 

2-7-1 

60 

ol 

7O 

4O 

^T 
2JL 

Hide  dropper 

•Jw 
724- 

4O 

^2 

1} 

21 

Clear  out  and  drop  together 
Neck  splitter  
Skirt  trimmer 

.32* 
.31* 

2  I 

2O 
60 
60 

~T 

3 

Ladder  men    '  . 
Bruise  trimmer         .     .         v 

.224; 

.224- 

Left  to  House  Committee 
«     ««        «              «< 

Scribe  sawyer 

2O 

«     «        «              « 

6 

Cutting  out  tongues    .     .     . 
Boning  heads      
All  other  knife  men     .     .     . 
Laborers  not  covered  by 
agreement      

$1.05  per  100 

.20 

.i64-  to  .iq4- 

100 

32! 

SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  227 

and  particular  parts  of  the  work.  An  all-round  butcher  might 
expect  to  earn  35  cents  an  hour,  but  the  highly  specialized 
floorman  or  splitter  earns  50  cents  an  hour.  Some  of  these 
expert  floormen.work  a  week  at  a  time  without  cutting  a  single 
hide,  so  deft  and  delicate  becomes  their  handling  of  the  knife. 
If  the  company  makes  a  few  of  these  particular  jobs  desirable 
to  the  men  and  attaches  them  to  its  service,  it  can  become 
independent  of  the  hundreds  who  work  at  the  jobs  where  they 
can  do  but  little  damage ;  and  their  low  wage  brings  down  the 
average  to  21  cents  where,  if  all  were  all-round  butchers,  the 
average  would  be  35  cents.  Consequently,  in  the  course  of 
time  the  companies  put  a  few  of  the  strongest  men  and  those 
with  a  particular  knack  for  their  work  on  "  steady  time,"  paying 
them  a  salary  of  $24  to  $27  a  week,  regardless  of  the  time 
actually  worked ;  but  the  other  nine  tenths  of  the  gang  were 
hired  by  the  hour  and  paid  only  for  the  time  at  work.  These 
steady-time  men  not  only  stood  by  the  company,  but  acted  as 
pace  setters;  and  in  this  way  a  third  object  of  division  of  labor 
was  brought  about,  namely,  speed.  Take  the  occupation  of 
splitting,  for  example.  In  the  year  1884  five  splitters  in  a  cer- 
tain gang  would  get  800  cattle  in  10  hours,  or  16  per  hour  for 
each  man,  the  wages  being  45  cents.  In  1894  the  speed  had 
been  increased  so  that  4  splitters  got  out  1200  in  10  hours,  or 
30  per  hour  for  each  man,  —  an  increase  of  nearly  100  per  cent 
in  10  years.  The  wages,  except  for  the  steady-time  men,  were 
reduced  to  40  cents  per  hour.  Other  occupations  had  been 
speeded  up  and  other  rates  of  pay  had  been  reduced  in  simi- 
lar proportions.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  grievance  above  all 
others  which  led  to  the  organization  of  1901 ;  for  the  first  act  of 
the  union  was  not  directed  toward  wages  or  hours,  but  towards 
a  reduction  of  the  output.  This  the  union  did  by  adopting 
a  "  scale  of  work  "  and  putting  it  into  force  without  consult- 
ing the  foremen,  superintendents,  or  proprietors.  In  the  case 
of  the  splitters  the  output  was  reduced  from  an  average  as 
high  as  30  cattle  an  hour  in  some  establishments  to  a  uniform 
25  an  hour,  and  thereafter,  in  order  that  the  gang  might  get 
out  1 20  an  hour,  the  number  of  splitters  had  to  be  increased 


228         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

to  5.  Similar  changes  were  made  in  other  occupations,  the  floor- 
men  being  reduced  from  an  average  of  20  to  a  limit  of  15,  and 
so  on.  An  exception  is  the  "  head  boners  "  or  trimmers,  who 
are  the  only  class  of  workmen  in  the  cattle  gang  paid  by  the 
piece.  In  this  occupation  the  rate  was  formerly  7  cents  per 
head,  but  it  had  been  reduced  to  9  mills  per  head ;  and  the 
union,  without  placing  a  limit  on  the  amount  of  work,  secured 
two  advances  in  the  rate,  bringing  it  to  i^-  cents  per  head.  At 
this  rate  the  leader  of  the  boners  can  make  40  cents  an  hour. 
The  packers  admit  that  some  of  them  had  gone  too  far  in 
rushing  the  men,  but  they  hold  that  the  union  has  gone  too  far 
in  restraining  them.  The  union  contends  that  their  scale  of 
work  is  the  same  as  that  which  already  existed  in  the  Hammond 
plant  and  in  one  of  the  Swift  houses.  At  any  rate,  the  inelastic 
restriction  of  output  is  set  forth  by  the  packers  as  the  most 
objectionable  and  arbitrary  of  all  features  of  the  union.  They 
cite  the  fact  that  it  applies  equally  and  without  distinction  to 
"  canners  "  that  weigh  800  or  900  pounds  and  to  corn-fed  steers 
that  weigh  1800  pounds.  The  justice  of  this  criticism  is  ac- 
knowledged by  some  of  the  men,  though  they  hold  that  the 
quantity  of  work  does  not  vary  in  proportion  to  the  weight  of 
the  animal  and  that,  if  the  limit  is  low  for  canners,  it  is  high 
for  steers,  so  that  the  average  is  fair.  The  packers  cite  cases 
where  a  floorman  is  compelled  to  "kill  time"  sharpening  his 
knife  or  strolling  along  in  order  to  hold  himself  down  to  the 
union  limit  of  work.  There  are  undoubtedly  exceptional  men, 
and  nothing  is  more  surprising  to  the  outsider  than  these  wide 
differences.  One  man,  whose  knife  slips  down  the  hide  as 
though  he  were  playing,  is  turning  out  twice  as  much  as  his 
comrade,  who  seems  to  be  a  hard  worker.  Individual  splitters 
have  been  known  to  reach  as  high  as  60  cattle  an  hour,  work- 
ing on  canners,  at  the  time  when  the  average  was  30 ;  and,  of 
course,  when  the  union  sets  the  limit  for  each  man  at  25  an  hour 
these  swift  men  find  spare  time  on  their  hands.  Taking  them 
as  a  standard,  some  of  the  packers  say  that  the  union  reduced 
the  output  50  per  cent,  whereas  the  reduction  below  the  average 
might  have  been  16  to  25  per  cent,  according  to  the  plant. 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  229 

After  the  limit  was  set  the  companies  discontinued  the 
"  steady-time "  men  and  placed  them  all  on  the  hour  basis, 
since  their  services  as  pace  makers  were  no  longer  useful. 
This  reduction  in  expense  must  be  considered  as  a  compensa- 
tion partly  offsetting  the  reduction  in  work.  The  steady-time 
men  have  opposed  the  action  of  the  union  because  their  earn- 
ings were  reduced ;  but  the  majority  of  the  skilled  men  consider 
the  restriction  as  the  main  blessing  which  the  union  has  brought 
them ;  for  they  say  that  formerly  they  were  speeded  up  until 
they  were  "  in  a  sweat  "  all  day,  exhausted  at  night,  and  useless 
after  forty  years  of  age,  "  but  now  it  is  a  pleasure  to  work." 

In  the  first  written  agreement,  dated  September,  1903,  it 
was  agreed  that  "  in  the  absence  of  any  skilled  man,  those 
doing  the  same  kind  of  work  will  attempt  to  make  up  the  loss 
in  the  amount  of  work  caused  by  such  absentee."  This  was  a 
valuable  concession;  for  otherwise  the  absence  of  a  floorman 
would  reduce  the  output  of  the  gang  1 50  cattle  a  day,  or  the 
absence  of  a  splitter  250  a  day,  and  so  on.  An  offer  on  the 
part  of  one  of  the  companies  to  pay  the  time  of  the  absentee 
to  those  who  made  up  the  loss  was  declined  by  resolution  of 
the  union,  because  they  feared  it  would  increase  absenteeism, 
and  that  the  greed  of  the  men  would  thus  urge  them  on  per- 
manently to  the  former  speed. 

The  artificial  limit  on  output  works  against  the  employer  in 
another  way,  for  it  prevents  economical  adjustment  of  the 
gang.  Two  floormen  handle  30  cattle,  but  one  splitter  handles 
25.  Hence  the  foreman  must  hire  two  splitters  and  set  them 
at  other  work  which  could  be  done  by  cheaper  men  —  with  a 
loss  of  time,  moreover,  in  changing  work.  In  the  earlier  days 
of  the  industry  the  number  of  men  to  be  assigned  to  one  posi- 
tion was  determined  by  speeding  up  a  man,  if  possible,  to  the 
gait  of  the  gang;  but,  if  he  could  not  keep  up,  another  full  man 
was  set  to  help  him.  Later  the  idea  was  adopted  of  putting 
a  "  half  man  "  or  a  "  quarter  man  "  to  help  him  ;  and  the  rate  of 
pay  for  the  half  time  or  quarter  time  was  the  rate  for  that  occu- 
pation. The  significance  of  this  device  appears  in  the  conten- 
tion between  the  union  and  employers  over  "laying  off"  men 


230        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

in  dull  seasons.  The  custom  has  always  prevailed  in  all  depart- 
ments of  laying  off  a  part  of  the  force  for  three  or  four  months 
when  work  is  slack  in  order  to  give  nearly  full  time  to  the 
others.  In  a  killing  gang  the  foreman  would  lay  off  the  lowest 
ranks  of  unskilled  labor  and  set  higher  paid  men  to  doing  a 
part  of  the  work  in  the  lower  paid  jobs.  This  dropping  down 
would  be  carried  through  to  the  highest  grades  of  labor,  and  in 
this  way  half  men,  one  third  men,  and  one  quarter  men  were 
invented.  This  led  to  a  crisis  at  one  time,  when  the  union 
insisted  that  a  5<D-cent  man,  who  was  put  quarter  time  on  a 
4<3-cent  job,  should  receive  the  higher  rate  of  pay  for  all  his 
time.  The  union  finally  receded  ;  but  at  a  later  time,  by  threat 
of  a  strike,  they  stopped  the  practice  itself  of  laying  off  men 
and  succeeded  in  keeping  the  gang  at  full  number  through  the 
year.  This  episode  illustrates  the  diametrically  opposite  points 
of  view  of  the  employers  and  the  men.  The  men  preferred  to 
have  all  of  their  number  employed  short  time  during  the  dull 
part  of  the  year  and  thus  to  share  equally  the  disadvantages 
of  slack  work.  The  employer  considered  it  better  to  attach 
two  thirds  of  the  men  to  his  work  by  giving  them  full  time 
through  the  year ;  and  he  pointed  out  that  it  was  exactly  the 
complaint  of  short  time  that  gave  force  to  their  demands  for 
higher  wages.  For  it  was  admitted  on  all  sides  that  the  hourly 
rates  of  pay,  if  they  could  be  earned  for  sixty  hours  a  week, 
would  place  the  butcher  workmen  in  a  better  position  than  that 
of  similar  grades  of  labor  in  other  industries.  But  in  order  to 
do  this  they  must  lay  off  a  large  part  of  the  force ;  and  conse- 
quently when  the  packer  speaks  of  steady  work  he  does  not 
take  into  account  those  laid  off,  —  the  work  is  steady  only  for 
those  retained.  The  union,  however,  includes  all  the  workmen  ; 
and  from  their  standpoint  steady  time  cannot  be  secured  except 
by  a  different  distribution  of  the  work  through  the  year,  —  a 
thing  apparently  impossible  in  a  seasonal  industry  like  slaugh- 
tering. After  the  strike  the  packers  resumed  the  practice  of 
laying  off  men  in  the  slack  season. 

Notwithstanding  this  policy  of  laying  off  men,  the  companies 
have  never  been  able  to  furnish  full  time,  even  for  those  who 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING 


231 


are  not  laid  off.  In  the  killing  gangs,  for  instance,  the  man 
who  makes  full  time  in  December  makes  only  two  fifths  to 
three  fifths  time  from  Februar)%to  July.  Taking  it  altogether, 
such  a  man,  regularly  employed  through  the  year,  has  averaged 
in  years  past  35  to  46  hours  of  work  per  week.  This  is  shown 
by  the  following  table  of  hours  and  wages  of  the  highest  paid 
labor  in  the  cattle-killing  gangs,  showing  the  earnings  of  a 
splitter  or  floorman  who  "  made  killing  time,"  that  is,  worked 
practically  all  the  time  when  a  certain  gang  was  working. 
All  the  time  lost  by  sickness,  accident,  or  other  ground  of 
absence  has  been  added,  so  that  the  table  shows  the  full  time 
of  the  gang,  not  the  full  time  of  any  one  man  in  the  gang. 
The  table  represents  the  25  or  30  men,  in  an  establishment  of 
5000,  who  could  have  earned  the  highest  possible  wages  for 
men  paid  by  the  hour. 

WAGES  OF  SPLITTER  OR  FLOORMAN  (1888-1904) 


Year 

Rate  of  Wages 
per  Hour 

Average  Number 
of  Hours  per 

Week 

Average 
Earnings  per 
Week 

Per  cent  of 
Possible  Time 
and  Earnings 

1888 

$0  4O 

41 

$l6  24 

680 

1889  
1890  

1891  
1892 

.40 
.40 

•45 

dC 

39 
46 

39 

4"? 

15.86 
18.46 
17.69 
IQ  48 

65.0 
76.6 
65.0 
71  A 

1801 

•TO 
f  .45  (7  mo.)  \ 

*to 
A.O 

1666 

666 

1804 

\  .40  (5  mo.)  J 

4O 

17 

14  72 

61.6 

i8oc 

4O 

Jl 
•37 

14  QQ 

61  6 

1806 

4.O 

Ol 

•7  C 

14  2O 

58.1 

1807  . 

AQ 

JJ 

1  e 

14  1  1 

58.3 

1808. 

AQ 

jj 
l6 

14.  11 

60  o 

1899  

IQOO 

f  .40  (9  mo.)  "1 
\  .45  (3mo-)  J 

A   f 

42 

•38 

1  6.60 

16  i  <5 

70.0 
611 

I  QOI 

•HO 

Af 

3° 

A6 

21  OO 

76.6 

IQO2 

r.45  (Smo.n 

4<j 
46 

21  7O 

76.6 

1903  
I9041      .... 

1  .47!  (4  mo.)  / 
r  .474-  (9  mo.)  \ 

\-5°    (3mo-)j 
.50 

42 

34 

2O.O2 
I7.I6 

70.0 
56.6 

1  Six  months,  slack  season. 


232         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  table  shows  that  the  rate  of  wages  per  hour,  beginning 
at  40  cents,  was  raised  to  45  cents  during  the  years  1891, 
1892,  1893,  then  reduced  to  43  cents  until  1899,  then  again 
raised  to  45  cents,  and  that  two  further  advances,  to  47^-  cents  in 
1902  and  50  cents  in  1903,  were  secured  by  the  union.  Similar 
changes  were  made  in  the  rates  for  other  skilled  positions. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  average  weekly  earnings  of  this 
highest  skilled  workman  who  had  a  "steady  job,"  though  not 
"  steady  time  "  (since  he  was  paid  by  the  hour),  have  varied 
from  $14.11  in  1897  to  $21.70  in  1902,  and  that  the  average 
number  of  hours  per  week  varied  from  35  to  46,  so  that  the 
time  actually  worked  and  the  wages  actually  earned  varied 
from  58.3  per  cent  to  76.6  per  cent  of  possible  time  and  earn- 
ings on  the  basis  of  60  hours  per  week  for  52  weeks. 

Taking  this  position  as  a  standard,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
average  weekly  earnings  of  the  men  in  the  same  gang  getting 
20  cents  an  hour  have  ranged  from  $5.64  in  1897  to  $8.68  in 
1902,  while  the  men  getting  16^-  cents  an  hour  have  ranged 
from  $4.65  to  $7.16.  These  earnings  are  for  men  who  have 
been  kept  on  the  force  throughout  the  year  and  not  laid  off 
by  slack  work,  sickness,  or  other  cause.  Evidently  the  aver- 
age earnings  of  the  men  who  were  laid  off  for  three  or  four 
months  have  been  still  lower,  unless  they  have  found  work  in 
other  industries. 

After  the  strike  of  1886  the  packers  introduced  what  was 
known  as  "the  contract  system,"  that  is,  a  contract  to  work, 
signed  by  each  workman,  authorizing  the  company  to  keep 
back  ten  days'  pay  and  requiring  the  workman  to  give  two 
weeks'  notice  of  withdrawal.  This  practice  continued  until 
1901,  when  the  cattle  butchers,  irritated  by  the  hardships  of  a 
man  who  was  refused  his  deposit  when  his  child  was  sick,  made 
a  demand  ;  thereupon  the  system  was  abolished  throughout  the 
industry  and  all  of  the  deposits  were  returned. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  gain  secured  by  the  cattle 
butchers'  union,  and  one  that  was  shared  by  all  the  others,  was 
the  adoption  of  regular  hours  of  work.  Cattle  reach  the  stock 
yards  during  the  night  and  are  purchased  by  the  packers  early 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  233 

in  the  morning.  Seldom,  however,  can  they  be  driven  over  the 
chutes  and  delivered  on  the  killing  floors  before  nine  o'clock, 
and  often  not  until  ten  or  eleven  o'clock.  Furthermore,  it  was 
always  held  that  they  could  not  be  kept  over  night,  but  must 
all  be  killed  on  the  day  of  arrival,  since  the  charges  of  the 
stock-yard  company  for  holding  over  night  are  50  cents  a  head. 
Consequently,  the  men  would  report  in  the  morning  between 
seven  and  nine  o'clock,  as  notified  the  night  before.  If  the 
cattle  were  on  hand,  they  began  work.  If  the  cattle  were  not 
yet  ready,  after  waiting  awhile  a  notice  would  be  posted  to  begin 
work  at  ten,  eleven,  or  twelve  o'clock,  as  the  case  might  be. 
The  men  received  no  pay  for  the  time  spent  in  waiting ;  and 
then  they  would  be  required  to  work  often  until  late  at  night 
in  order  to  dispose  of  the  day's  arrivals.  It  was  nearly  two 
years  after  the  union  was  organized  before  it  felt  strong  enough 
to  take  up  this  matter.  A  strike  was  threatened,  but  finally 
a  conference  was  secured  with  a  leading  packer.  The  union 
spokesman  told  him  of  these  hardships,  comparing  their  posi- 
tion with  his  own,  in  that  they  never  knew  beforehand  when 
their  work  would  begin  or  be  done,  while  he  could  finish  up  his 
day's  work  and  go  home.  The  packer  only  replied  that  he  had 
never  known  that  such  conditions  existed.  From  the  date  of 
that  interview,  although  no  promises  were  made,  overtime  has 
been  abolished  for  the  cattle  butchers  in  all  the  establishments. 
The  men  begin  regularly  at  seven  o'clock,  work  until  the  day's 
killing  is  done,  and  go. home  not  later  than  half  past  five  P.M. 
If  after  ten  hours'  work  there  are  cattle  left  over,  they  are  held 
until  the  next  morning.  That  a  union  had  to  be  organized  and 
threaten  a  strike  in  order  that  the  owner  of  the  business  might 
learn  of  conditions  of  which  his  own  conscience  promptly  dis- 
approved is  a  fact  full  of  meaning  for  all  who  are  disturbed  by 
the  modern  unrest  of  labor. 

The  union  also  secured  four  of  the  legal  holidays  which  they 
had  never  enjoyed  before,  and  these  were  shared  by  the  other 
departments. 

The  cattle  butchers  devoted  much  time  to  perfecting  a  line 
of  promotion,  which  they  say  shall  be  "according  to  superiority 


234        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  oldest  men  to  receive  promotions."  By  "  superiority " 
is  evidently  meant  "seniority."  This  is  designed  to  prevent 
favoritism  on  the  part  of  the  foremen,  to  prevent  the  intro- 
duction in  the  lower  positions  of  outsiders,  who  may  then  be 
"  jumped  over  the  heads  "  of  the  older  men,  to  diminish  jealousy, 
and  to  maintain  the  feeling  of  equity  and  comradeship  neces- 
sary among  the  members  of  a  union.  These  rules  of  promotion 
do  not  find  favor  with  the  superintendents,  who  contend  that 
forced  promotion  often  takes  a  man  away  from  work  that  he 
does  well  and  gives  him  a  position  which  he  may  not  be  able 
to  hold.  Neatness  and  superior  quality  of  workmanship  are 
natural  to  some  men  and  never  acquired  by  others;  and,  if  the 
foreman  is  required  by  reason  of  seniority  to  promote  an  awk- 
ward man  to  a  position  where  he  may  damage  the  hide  70 
cents  or  retard  the  sale  of  the  carcass,  then  the  gang  as  a 
whole  suffers.  The  antagonism  at  this  point  shows  clearly  the 
nature  of  the  conflict  between  capital  and  labor, — a  conflict 
irrepressible,  as  proved  by  the  strike. 

In  a  gang  of  sheep  butchers  the  pace  is  set  by  the  "  pelter," 
who  loosens  the  hide  so  that  it  can  be  pulled  off  without  tear- 
ing the  "  fell,"  or  mucous  covering,  and  by  the  "  setter,"  who 
starts  the  carcass  on  the  trolley.  One  pelter  and  one  setter  in  a 
gang  were  formerly  steady-time  men,  and  the  pelter's  speed  had 
been  pushed  up  to  60  and  even  75  sheep  an  hour.  The  union, 
which  was  organized  a  year  after  that  of  the  cattle  butchers, 
set  the  limit  at  40  per  hour  and  later  by  an  agreement  with 
the  firms  raised  it  to  46^ ;  and  the  companies  placed  all  the 
steady-time  men  on  the  hourly  basis.  The  speed  of  other  posi- 
tions was  reduced  proportionately ;  that  is,  there  was  a  reduc- 
tion of  30  or  50  per  cent,  according  as  it  is  measured  by  the 
average  speed  or  by  the  speed  of  the  swiftest  men. 

Irregular  time  was  a  grievance  even  more  serious  with  the 
sheep  butchers  than  with  the  cattle  butchers.  There  are  some 
twelve  styles  of  dressing  mutton,  according  to  the  locality  of 
the  market,  —  "  Alleghenys,"  "Bostons,"  "New  Yorks,"  and 
so  on.  The  packer  must  wait  each  morning  for  orders  from 
different  parts  of  the  country  before  he  can  decide  the  styles 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  235 

and  quantities  of  work  for  the  day.  This  compelled  the  men 
to  wait  sometimes  until  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  to  go 
home  late  at  night.  They  finally  refused  to  work  after  half  past 
five  P.M.  under  any  conditions,  the  reason  being  that  they  could 
have  got  out  the  work  by  that  time  if  they  had  begun  at  seven 
o'clock  A.M.  When  the  union  was  first  organized  one  of  the 
packers  discharged  several  of  the  members,  but  after  a  threat 
to  strike  by  the  international  union  they  were  reinstated. 

In  the  hog-killing  and  pork-cutting  departments  the  local 
union  was  organized  at  the  same  time  as  that  of  the  sheep 
butchers;  but  in  these  departments  a  limit  has  not  been  placed 
on  the  amount  of  work.  A  larger  number  of  mechanical  con- 
trivances are  used  than  is  the  case  on  the  other  killing  floors, 
such  as  a  huge  wheel  for  hoisting  the  shackled  hog,  a  scraping 
machine  to  take  off  the  hair,  and  a  trolley  on  which  the  carcass 
is  hooked  and  passed  from  one  worker  to  the  next.  The  pace 
setters  are  the  sticker,  the  scalder,  the  hooker  on,  the  splitter, 
and  the  chopper,  the  latter  being  in  the  pork-cutting  room; 
and,  since  the  union  has  not  set  a  limit  on  the  amount  of  work, 
these  positions  have  continued  on  "  steady  time."  The  pro- 
posed scale,  as  submitted  in  1904,  for  the  first  time  set  a  limit 
in  'this  department ;  and,  had  this  scale  been  adopted,  the 
scalder,  for  example,  would  have  been  restricted  to  500  hogs 
an  hour,  and  his  wages  placed  at  40  cents  an  hour  instead  of 
"  steady  time." 

In  this  department  the  seasonal  character  of  the  work  is 
more  marked  than  in  sheep  and  cattle  killing ;  but  there  is,  of 
course,  a  great  improvement  over  the  period  preceding  refriger- 
ation, when  hogs  were  killed  and  packed  only  in  the  winter 
months.  On  account  of  the  very  irregular  supply  of  animals 
the  union  has  not  attempted  to  keep  the  gang  at  full  force,  but 
it  has  tried  to  establish  the  rule  that  "the  last  man  hired  is  the 
first  laid  off;  and  when  the  gang  is  increased  the  oldest  man 
with  the  house  shall  be  hired  first." 

The  sausage  department  has  the  credit  of  furnishing  steadier 
work  than  other  departments.  The  union  of  sausage  makers, 
composed  mainly  of  Germans,  had  a  checkered  and  disastrous 


236         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

career.  They  imitated  the  cattle  and  sheep  butchers  in  demand- 
ing a  minimum  pay  for  their  gang;  but  they  went  further  and 
applied  the  minimum  of  18^  cents  to  all  common  labor.  This 
demand  they  supported  in  1903  in  violation  of  their  agreement 
by  a  strike.  Their  union  had  reached  a  membership  of  1 300 ;  but 
they  found  that  the  unskilled  laborers  receiving  less  than  18^- 
cents  an  hour  could  not  appreciate  the  advantages  of  the  union 
and  would  not  pay  their  dues.  Since  the  strike  was  "illegal," 
the  Amalgamated  refused  to  support  them,  and  the  packers 
filled  their  places.  When  the  agreements  expired  in  1904  it 
was  this  demand  of  the  sausage  makers,  applied  to  all  depart- 
ments, that  the  Amalgamated  took  up  and  lost  in  the  strike. 

In  the  sausage  department  piecework  prevails  more  than 
elsewhere,  except  in  the  canning  department.  The  rates  are 
based  on  the  thousand  pounds  of  sausage.  The  piecework  sys- 
tem was  introduced  in  1891  in  stuffing  sausages  by  machinery, 
and  up  to  the  time  of  the  union  organization  in  1902  the  rates 
and  practices  were  such  that  the  best  man  in  the  best  year 
could  earn  a  yearly  average  of  $12  a  week,  ranging  from  $8  to 
$16  in  different  parts  of  the  year.  In  other  years  he  earned 
less.  In  some  cases  piece  rates  had  been  reduced ;  and  in 
1899,  without  an  organization,  a  strike  forced  an  increase  of 
10  per  cent  in  certain  bologna  prices  that  had  been  reduced 
20  per  cent.  After  the  union  was  organized  in  1902  other 
rates  were  increased. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  the  piecework  system  in  pork  sausages, 
as  distinguished  from  bologna  sausages,  is  the  limitation  of 
earnings  per  hour  through  the  substitution  of  inferior  casings 
when  the  men's  earnings  exceed  a  certain  amount.  In  first* 
class  casings  without  "  leaks  "  twenty  feet  can  be  filled  at  one 
expulsion  of  the  steam  stuffer ;  but  on  second-class  and  third- 
class  casings  the  workman  must  tie  the  casings  wherever  a  leak 
appears,  and  this  reduces  the  number  of  pounds  of  sausage  to 
his  credit.  Since  the  superintendent  is  charged  with  the  cost 
of  material  and  labor  and  is  credited  with  the  value  of  the 
product,  sometimes  getting  a  bonus  on  the  margin,  it  is  to  his 
interest  to  get  not  only  a  low  labor  cost  but  also  a  low  cost  of 


SLAUGHTKRING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  237 

the  expensive  casings,  a  considerable  part  of  which  is  purchased 
in  the  open  market.  He  therefore  watches  his  opportunity  to 
substitute  second-class  and  third-class  casings  for  first-class.  At 
what  point  it  is  safe  to  do  this  depends  on  the  point  of  hourly 
earnings  below  which  the  workmen  will  resist,  which  was  found 
to  be  about  the  rate  of  27  cents  an  hour.  He  refrained  from  cut- 
ting the  piece  rates,  as  he  had  done  in  the  case  of  bolognas  ; 
and,  since  the  rates  are  the  same  for  all  classes  of  cases,  he 
contented  himself  with  putting  slower  work  on  the  men  by  sub- 
stituting inferior  casings.  This  might  require  the  men  to  work 
overtime  in  busy  seasons  to  get  out  the  product.  Consequently, 
when  in  1902  the  union  enforced  its  demand  for  a  one  and  a 
half  piece  rate  on  all  work  done  after  a  ten-hour  day,  the  super- 
intendent in  the  next  busy  season  furnished  first-class  casings, 
and  permitted  the  men  to  earn  35  to  36  cents  an  hour. 

Women  and  girls  have  been  taking  the  place  of  men  in  this 
department  during  the  past  five  or  six  years,  a  peculiar  instance 
being  that  of  trimming  meat  from  the  bones  and  tying  casings, 
where  formerly  older  men,  who  were  in  a  way  kept  as  pen- 
sioners, have  given  way  to  girls,  who  work  much  faster.  The 
strike  of  1903  opened  an  opportunity  for  Slav  women  to  take 
the  place  of  German  men. 

The  beef  "  luggers"  are  one  of  the  most  interesting  special- 
ties of  this  most  highly  specialized  industry.  They  are  the 
powerful  men  who  load  the  sides  of  beef  into  the  cars.  There 
are  but  60  of  them  in  the  yards  ;  but  they  have  taken  into 
their  organization  the  cooler  hands  and  truckers  who  work  with 
*hem.  Prior  to  1891  the  luggers  were  paid  28  cents  an  hour, 
and  earned  $8  to  $10  a  week.  Their  hours  of  work  are  irregular, 
beginning  at  two  or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  they  work 
only  when  the  cars  are  switched  in  place.  In  1891,  on  account 
of  irregular  hours,  they  asked  for  weekly  wages  and  in  place 
of  28  cents  an  hour  secured  $12.50  a  week  without  an  organ- 
ization. In  1892  they  again  asked  an  advance  and  received 
$15  for  a  week  of  54  hours.  In  1902,  after  they  had  formed 
the  Beef  Carriers'  and  Helpers'  Local,  they  got  $17,  and  their 
demands  for  1904  were  for  $18.50.  At  $17  on  "  steady  time" 


238         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

their  yearly  earnings  were  nearly  as  high  as  those  of  the 
splitter  or  floorman,  who  is  paid  50  cents  an  hour  "killing 
time."  The  luggers  also  reduced  the  amount  of  their  work, 
so  that  where  5  or  6  men  loaded  60  to  70  cars  a  day,  which, 
in  their  own  words,  "certainly  was  slavery,  as  any  one  who 
understands  the  work  will  admit,"  it  thereafter  required  8  men 
to  load  60  cars.  However,  in  the  fall  of  1903,  after  four  men 
in  a  house  had  been  making  up  work  for  a  fifth  member  of 
the  gang  who  was  sick  a  month,  the  firm  reduced  the  number 
permanently  to  4.  The  luggers  went  out  on  a  strike;  but  not 
being  supported  by  the  Amalgamated  organization,  they  lost. 

The  number  of  women  employed  in  the  industry  in  1890 
was  990,  or  2.2  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  employees. 
This  was  increased  by  1900  to  2954,  or  4.3  per  cent.  In 
Illinois  the  number  is  put  at  1473,  or  5.3  per  cent.  This  pro- 
portion has  undoubtedly  been  increased  since  the  last  census 
year;  and  it  is  generally  stated  that  the  number  of  women 
employees  in  Chicago  alone  is  2000,  or  about  9  per  cent  of  all 
employees.  This  increase  has  come  about  partly  through  the 
introduction  of  foreign-born  women  into  the  sausage  depart- 
ment and  meat-trimming  rooms  at  times  when  the  men  went  on 
strike.  Prior  to  that  time  women  were  not  employed  in  the 
large  establishments  at  work  where  the  knife  is  used,  their 
work  being  principally  painting  and  labeling  cans,  soldering 
and  stuffing  cans,  sewing  up  ends  of  bags,  packing  chipped 
beef,  packing  and  wrapping  butterine. 

The  majority  of  the  women  and  girls  are  paid  by  the  piece ; 
and  the  Illinois  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  1892  showed  that  piece 
workers  earned  from  $3.58  to  $11.57  per  week  of  60  hours, 
the  average  being  $6.78.  At  that  time  girls  paid  by  the  week 
of  60  hours  earned  $4  to  $8.25,  the  bulk  of  employment  per 
year  ranging  from  35  to  40  weeks.  Weekly  rates  were  gradu- 
ally equalized,  until  in  1902  the  prevailing  rates  of  pay  were 
$4.50  to  $5.50.  Much  the  larger  number  of  women  work  at 
piece  races,  and  these  were  gradually  reduced  as  the  girls 
acquired  greater  speed,  until  in  1900,  prior  to  the  organization 
of  the  men  and  without  any  organization  on  their  own  part,  the 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  239 

girls  in  one  of  the  largest  canning  establishments  went  on 
strike  against  a  further  cut  in  rates.  At  that  time  the  swiftest 
girl,  who  one  year  later  died  of  consumption  and  overwork,  was 
said  to  be  able  to  earn  $20.  This  girl,  whose  high  earnings 
had  tempted  the  company  to  cut  the  rates,  joined  with  others 
of  Irish-American  stock  and  led  the  strike;  and  when  they 
were  defeated  by  the  introduction  of  foreign-born  women  they 
found  themselves  blacklisted  by  the  other  large  companies. 
Nine  of  them  brought  suit  against  the  four  leading  companies 
for  $50,000  damages ;  but  the  suits  were  decided  in  May  and 
June,  1901,  on  demurrer  in  favor  of  the  packers.  The  court 
declared1  that  "the  defendants  agreed  not  to  reemploy  those 
who  went  out  upon  a  strike.  This  they  had  a  right  to  do. 
According  to  the  allegations  of  the  girls'  declarations  the 
purpose  for  making  this  agreement  was  bad,  because  by  such 
agreement  the  plaintiff  cannot  get  employment  at  her  trade 
and  is  thus  injured.  This  gives  her  no  right  of  action,  for  a 
bad  motive  does  not  make  a  lawful  deed  actionable."  The 
court  also  intimated  that  a  union  was  judged  by  the  same 
standard.  "  The  right  of  union  laborers  to  quit  work  or  to 
refuse  to  work  where  nonunion  men  are  employed  is  estab- 
lished beyond  controversy,  and  that  without  reference  to  how 
pitiful  the  consequences  may  be  to  him  who  is  thus  deprived 
of  an  opportunity  to  earn  bread  for  himself  and  family." 

This  decision  had  undoubtedly  an  effect  upon  the  men  and 
women  in  the  stock  yards  in  determining  them  during  the  next 
two  years  quietly  and  thoroughly  to  organize  the  whole  industry. 
The  men  began  to  organize  in  June,  1900,  four  months  after 
the  girls'  strike,  and  several  departments  were  organized  by 
the  men  before,  in  March,  1902,  a  women's  local  was  chartered 
with  fourteen  members.  The  initiative  was  taken  by  the  head 
worker  of  the  University  of  Chicago  Settlement,  who  had 
noted  the  exclusion  of  the  women  from  the  men's  locals.  It 
was  decided  to  organize  the  women  of  all  departments  in  one 
local,  although  the  men  were  organized  by  departments.  In 
this  way  the  women  secure  representation  in  the  Packing 

1  Chicago  papers,  June  11,  1901.    The  court  was  not  a  court  of  record. 


240         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Trades  Council  and  in  the  conventions,  whereas  they  would  be 
outvoted  were  they  to  be  distributed  among  the  department 
organizations.  Since  the  scales  of  wages  and  work  are  agreed 
upon  by  these  superior  bodies  before  they  can  be  submitted 
to  the  packers,  the  girls  have  a  voice  through  their  own  dele- 
gates in  formulating  them,  which  they  would  not  have  were  they 
organized  by  departments. 

An  interesting  illustration  of  this  influence  is  seen  in  the 
compromise  agreed  upon  at  the  Cincinnati  Convention  in  1904, 
respecting  the  employment  and  wages  of  women  in  the  sausage 
departments.  It  was  in  this  department  that  Slav  women  had 
been  employed  in  place  of  Germans  out  on  strike,  as  described 
above  ;  and  the  men  afterwards  insisted  that  in  the  new  agree- 
ment the  women  should  be  discharged.  But  the  girl  delegates 
opposed  this  demand,  even  though  the  women  were  not  mem- 
bers of  the  union  ;  and  finally  it  was  agreed  that  the  union 
should  demand  that  women  be  paid  the  same  wages  as  men. 
This  concession  to  the  girl  delegates  was  not  faithfully  carried 
out;  and  the  scale,  as  actually  submitted  in  May,  provided  for 
"abolition  of  women  labor  in  the  sausage  departments."  But 
the  original  compromise  is  significant  as  showing  the  standards 
which  the  union  women  were  willing  to  have  applied  to  women's 
work.  These  standards  were  also  adopted  for  all  other  girls 
working  in  those  occupations  which  had  been  recognized  as 
"women's  work,"  where  they  were  not  paid  by  the  piece;  and 
the  demands  there  were  the  same  as  for  the  men,  namely,  a 
minimum  of  20  cents  an  hour.  This  would  have  amounted 
to  an  increase  of  100  per  cent,  since  girls  paid  by  the  week 
receive  9  cents  and  10  cents  an  hour,  whereas  the  increase  for 
the  lowest  paid  men,  bringing  them  up  to  the  same  minimum, 
would  have  been  only  loto  15  per  cent.  Even  the  compromise 
offer  of  iSJ-  cents  an  hour  would  have  raised  the  girls  85  per 
cent.  These  standards  were  agreed  to  by  the  girls  in  full  view 
of  the  fact  that,  at  the  same  rates  of  pay  (except  in  piecework), 
the  women  would  probably  be  displaced  by  men. 

Immediately  following  the  organization  of  the  women's  local 
all  the  charter  members,  to  the  number  of  14,  were  discharged ; 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  241 

but  in  the  course  of  the  year,  with  the  assistance  of  the  men's 
locals,  they  reached  a  membership  of  1200.  It  has  never  been 
possible  for  them  to  bring  into  their  union  the  non-English- 
speaking  women,  many  of  whom  are  married.  But  they  se- 
cured practically  all  the  Irish-American,  German-American, 
and  Polish-American  girls  ;  and  this  gave  them  entire  control 
of  some  departments  where  only  such  happened  to  be  employed. 
They  elected  their  own  business  agent,  secured  reinstatement 
of  several  members  who  had  been  discharged  for  union  activity 
(though  not  their  president  and  secretary),  gained  advances  in 
some  of  the  piece  rates,  and  advances  of  50  cents  to  $2  in 
weekly  rates.  The  normal  rate  paid  now  to  these  American 
girls  is  $5  for  beginners,  rising  to  $6  with  experience.  In  one 
department,  for  example,  employing  62  American-born  girls, 
there  are  only  8  who  get  as  high  as  $6  a  week.  Here  the  girls 
begin  at  $5  at  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age.  Very  few 
work  more  than  three  years,  the  majority  leaving  within  that 
period,  usually  for  marriage.  Numbers  of  Slav  women  return 
to  work  after  marriage,  but  this  is  not  the  case  with  the 
American-born.  Bohemian  women  and  girls  are  increasing  in 
number  more  rapidly  than  other  nationalities,  with  the  Poles 
and  Lithuanians  next ;  and  they  are  doing  heavy  and  disagree- 
able work,  such  as  stuffing  cans  and  trimming  meat,  where  in 
many  cases  they  have  displaced  men. 

A  significant  fact  in  the  history  of  the  women's  local  is  that, 
though  they  are  the  only  class  of  labor  generally  employed  at 
piecework,  and  though  such  a  method  of  payment  had  led 
them  to  serious  overexertion,  they  have  yet  made  no  efforts 
to  limit  the  amount  of  work,  some  of  which,  especially  in  the 
can-making  departments,  depends  on  the  speed  of  the  machine. 
It  seems  that  for  the  few  years  during  which  most  of  the 
girls  expect  to  work  in  the  industry  they  choose  to  over- 
look the  strain  of  excessive  speed,  which  to  the  men,  as 
they  grow  older,  becomes  the  greatest  of  all  their  grievances. 
The  girls  feel  like  working  to  their  utmost  for  a  period, 
in  order  to  save  up  a  sum  of  money  and  quit  the  work  for 
a  home  of  their  own. 


242         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  number  of  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  employed 
in  the  industry  was  700  in  1890.  This  had  been  increased  in 
1900  to  1651,  or  T,\  per  cent  of  all  employees.  The  number  in 
Illinois  was  596,  or  2.28  per  cent.  The  intermittent  work  of 
the  packing  houses  fosters  in  the  children  unsteady  habits,  and 
even  the  most  industrious  workmen  trained  in  this  school  dis- 
like more  than  four  days'  work  in  the  week.  The  probation 
officer  of  the  juvenile  court  strongly  urges  the  boys  and  girls 
under  suspended  sentence  not  to  work  in  the  stock  yards,  and 
endeavors  to  find  other  jobs  for  them.  The  parochial  schools  of 
the  neighborhood  have  been  defective  after  the  third  or  fourth 
grades ;  and  in  the  Slovak  school  none  of  the  teachers  speak 
English,  while  the  Polish  school  has  but  recently  introduced 
English.  The  capacity  of  the  public  schools  has  been  inade- 
quate, though  lately  it  has  been  increased.  Since  the  census 
year  (1900)  the  compulsory  school  law  has  been  strengthened 
by  amendments  to  the  child-labor  law,  largely  through  the 
efforts  of  the  butcher  workmen's  organizations,  which  sent  a 
delegation  to  Springfield  in  behalf  of  the  proposed  law.  Many 
of  the  men  and  women  now  working  in  the  yards  began  at 
eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age ;  but  by  the  new  law  the  work  of 
children  under  fourteen  years  is  prohibited  and  the  work  of 
those  under  sixteen  is  limited  to  eight  hours  per  day.  An  age 
and  school  certificate,  showing  ability  to  read  and  write,  is 
required  from  the  health  and  school  authorities  for  those  under 
sixteen ;  and  each  establishment  is  required  to  keep  posted  in 
a  conspicuous  place  a  list  of  all  children  employed  and  the 
hours  of  beginning  and  quitting  work.  The  enforcement  of 
this  law  is  intrusted  to  the  state  factory  inspector  and  his 
deputies  ;  and,  after  sixty  convictions  had  been  secured  against 
some  of  the  packers,  certain  firms  went  so  far  as  to  issue  orders 
to  their  foremen  not  to  employ  children  under  sixteen,  though 
permitted  to  do  so  by  law.  The  short-time  clause  makes  the 
services  of  children  undesirable,  except  in  the  offices  as  mes- 
senger boys,  where  the  entire  force  works  but  eight  hours.  The 
companies  usually  require  as  a  measure  of  protection  an  affi- 
davit from  children  above  sixteen,  although  an  affidavit  is  not 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  243 

required  by  law.  The  union  does  not  admit  persons  under  six- 
teen years  of  age.  Viewed  as  a  piece  of  legislation  to  exclude 
children  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  the  law  is  effective. 

The  foregoing  are  departments  of  peculiar  interest  in  the 
industry.  The  others  are  composed  mainly  of  unskilled  labor, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  large  percentage  of  those  whose  wages 
are  less  than  20  cents  an  hour,  such  as  the  oleo  workers  and 
glue  workers,  95  per  cent,  the  wool  workers,  70  per  cent,  and  so 
on.  Taking  the  industry  as  a  whole,  it  is  maintained  by  the 
union  statisticians  that  two  thirds  of  the  employees  eligible  to 
membership  received  less  than  i8|  cents  per  hour.  The  packers 
assert  that  the  proportion  was  only  6  per  cent.  The  United 
States  census  showed  that  in  the  year  1900  67.2  per  cent  of 
the  employees  received  less  than  18  cents  an  hour,  and  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  showed  that  in  1903  the 
laborers,  who  constituted  84.8  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of 
the  employees,  received  an  average  rate  of  17.46  cents  per 
hour.  These  reports  covered  only  selected  establishments,  but 
they  were  typical  for  the  industry.1 

The  motives  on  the  part  of  the  strikers  were  partly  sen- 
timental, partly  for  self-preservation.  The  sentimental  side 
appealed  to  the  public  and  was  strongly  emphasized.  But  there 
was  also  a  profound  self-interest  involved  in  that  through  the 
minute  division  of  labor  promotion  from  the  lower  ranks  can 
be  made  without  much  training.  The  packers  contended  that 
in  the  case  of  the  unskilled  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  with 
its  market  rate  of  wages,  could  not  be  overruled ;  and  they 
pointed  to  the  3000  to  5000  transient  laborers  who  gathered 
every  morning  at  seven  o'clock  at  the  several  time-keeping 
stations  asking  for  work,  when  not  one  tenth  of  their  number 
could  be  employed.  It  was  not  a  question  of  ability  to  pay  the 
minimum  asked ;  for  the  five  packing  companies  controlled  the 
bulk  of  the  business,  and  through  favorable  freight  rates,  their 
own  car  lines,  utilization  of  by-products,  and  minute  division  of 

1  Special  Report,  Twelfth  Census,  "Employees  and  Wages,"  p.  581 ;  Bulletin 
No.  53,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  p.  890. 


244 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


labor,  their  position  was  more  favorable  than  that  of  the  "  inde- 
pendents," who  did  not  have  these  advantages  and  yet  were 
paying  the  wages  asked  for.  The  packers  proposed  to  reduce 
the  minimum  pay  of  men  in  the  killing,  cutting,  casing,  and 
beef-loading  departments  to  \J\  cents  an  hour,  a  reduction  of 
i  cent.  All  other  classes  of  unskilled  labor  were  to  be  left 
"  open  "  without  a  wage  scale,  by  which  transient  labor  might 
be  paid  as  low  as  \6\  cents.  A  minimum  wage  of  i8J  cents 
was  more  than  such  inexperienced  labor  was  worth.  It  was 
necessary  to  have  this  floating  supply  only  in  order  to  fill  the 
places  of  absentees,  so  that  the  gangs  might  not  suffer.  But 
the  union  contended  that  when  once  employed  at  16^  cents 
an  hour  those  who  were  getting  iSJ-  cents  would  be  dis- 
charged; and  there  were  known  enough  cases  of  men  at  18^ 
cents  being  discharged  and  rehired  at  i6|  cents  to  convince 
them  that  such  would  happen  all  along  the  line.  After  the 
strike  the  packers  reduced  large  classes  of  their  regular  unskilled 
labor  i  and  2  cents  an  hour. 

The  demand  for  a  minimum  wage  above  the  market  rate  was 
also  necessary  to  the  permanency  of  the  union,  since  it  had 
been  found  that  those  who  received  only  market  wages  refused 
to  pay  dues.  It  is  true  that  nearly  all  of  them  came  out  on 
strike  with  the  others  ;  but  it  was  the  union  theory  that,  if  a 
minimum  of  18^  cents  could  be  established,  the  companies 
could  not  then  afford  to  employ  transient  labor  which  was 
worth  only  i6J-  cents,  and  therefore  better  men  would  seek 
these  positions,  and  union  men  would  be  preferred  by  the 
employers  to  nonunion  men.  This  was  in  lieu  of  a  demand  for 
the  "  closed  shop,"  for  which  none  of  the  unions  had  asked,  but 
which  the  skilled  men  had  secured  in  practice,  as  is  shown  by 
the  agreement  of  the  cattle  butchers  that  in  the  absence  of  any 
skilled  man  those  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  would  attempt 
to  make  up  the  loss.  A  minimum  wage  would  have  lessened 
the  number  of  transient  laborers  employed  and  would  have 
made  the  position  of  union  laborers  steadier  through  the  year. 
The  importance  of  this  factor  is  seen  by  consulting  the  census1 

1  Vol.  IX,  p.  398. 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  245 

of  1900,  which  shows  that  in  the  industry  as  a  whole  the 
greatest  number  employed  at  any  one  time  during  the  year 
was  81,416  and  the  least  number  employed  at  any  one  time 
57,119.  In  other  words,  30  per  cent  of  the  employees  are 
unemployed  in  the  slack  season.  This  proportion  agrees  with 
that  of  one  of  the  largest  houses  in  Chicago,  whose  employees 
number  about  4000  in  the  slack  season  and  6000  in  the  busy 
season.  If  practically  one  third  of  the  employees  are  laid  off, 
then,  of  course,  there  is  a  wide  opening  for  new  men,  unless 
blocked  by  the  " closed  shop"  or  obstructed  by  the  minimum 
wage.  The  employers,  as  compensation  for  reduction  in  hourly 
rates  of  pay,  have  promised  to  make  work  steadier,  so  that  the 
yearly  earnings  will  be  larger.  They  began  during  the  strike  by 
enlisting  the  aid  of  the  commission  men  and  by  sending  thou- 
sands of  circulars  to  cattle  raisers  and  shippers,  urging  a  better 
distribution  of  their  shipments  through  the  week.  The  custom 
has  long  existed  of  shipping  live  stock  on  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
so  that  the  arrivals  of  cattle  during  a  typical  week  would  be  30,- 
ooo  on  Monday,  8000  on  Tuesday,  30,000  on  Wednesday,  dwin- 
dling to  200  on  Saturday.  If  the  shippers  were  organized,  this 
appeal  might  be  effective ;  but  there  is  at  present  no  certainty 
of  its  results.  And,  even  if  shipments  were  equalized  through 
the  week,  this  would  not  remedy  the  more  serious  inequality  in 
distribution  through  the  year,  since  live  stock  is  a  seasonal 
product  following  grass  and  corn. 

Perhaps  the  fact  of  greatest  social  significance  is  that  the 
strike  of  1904  was  not  merely  a  strike  of  skilled  labor  for  the 
unskilled,  but  was  a  strike  of  Americanized  Irish,  Germans, 
and  Bohemians  in  behalf  of  Slovaks,  Poles,  Lithuanians,  and 
negroes.  The  strike  was  defeated  by  bringing  in  men  from  the 
companies'  own  branch  houses  for  the  skilled  occupations  and 
negroes  and  Greeks  for  the  unskilled  occupations. 

This  substitution  of  races  has  been  a  continuing  process  for 
twenty  years.  At  the  time  of  the  strike  of  1886  the  men  were 
American,  Irish,  and  German  ;  and  the  strike  was  defeated  by 
splitting  their  forces  rather  than  by  introducing  new  nationalities. 


246         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

After  that  date  the  Bohemians  entered  in  large  numbers, 
although  a  few  of  them  had  begun  work  as  early  as  1882. 
Bohemians  have  worked  their  way  forward,  until  of  the  24  men 
getting  50  cents  an  hour  in  two  of  the  cattle-killing  gangs  12 
are  Bohemians,  and  the  others  are  German,  Irish,  and  American. 
The  Bohemian  is  considered  to  be  the  coming  man  in  the  busi- 
ness. The  Americans  as  wage-earners  have  practically  been 
driven  out  of  the  stock  yards  and  are  being  followed  by  the 
Irish  and  Germans.  Those  who  have  accumulated  money  leave 
for  something  more  certain.  The  Germans  are  held  mainly 
by  the  large  number  of  homes  they  have  purchased  in  the 
neighborhood ;  and  this  has  seemed  to  be  the  future  of  the 
Bohemians  and  Poles,  who  have  been  purchasing  homes  for 
several  years,  and  of  the  Slovaks  and  Lithuanians,  who  have 
begun  during  the  past  two  years.  The  feeling  of  security  since 
the  union  was  established  three  years  ago  has  stimulated  the 
tendency  to  home  ownership  among  all  these  nationalities, 
although  as  yet  there  are  many  Slovaks  and  Lithuanians  who 
return  with  their  savings  to  their  native  land.  The  Irish  show 
wide  diversities  of  character,  noticeable  in  contrast  with  the 
uniformity  of  other  races.  In  general  there  is  a  rising  class 
and  a  degenerating  class.  Neither  class  shows  any  inclination 
towards  home  ownership.  But  the  Irish  of  the  rising  class  have 
a  much  stronger  desire  than  the  Germans  or  Bohemians  to 
educate  their  children  rather  than  to  put  them  to  work.  This 
class  of  Irish  have  been  leaving  the  industry,  except  as  held 
back  by  a  foremanship  or  skilled  trade,  or  by  a  salaried  position 
in  the  union,  of  which  they  have  been  the  aggressive  organizers 
and  leaders.  With  the  defeat  of  the  union  doubtless  many 
more  of  them  will  leave.  The  other  class,  the  degenerating 
Irish,  displaced  by  the  Slav,  have  become  casual  laborers,  with- 
out definite  place  in  any  industry. 

The  older  nationalities  have  already  disappeared  from  the 
unskilled  occupations,  most  of  which  now  are  entirely  manned 
by  Slovaks,  Poles,  and  Lithuanians.  The  Poles  began  to  ap- 
pear at  about  the  same  time  as  the  Bohemians,  though  not  in 
as  large  numbers ;  and  they  have  not  advanced  in  the  same 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  PACKING  247 

proportion.  The  Slovaks  and  Lithuanians  were  first  seen  in 
1899.  One  Slovak  who  has  been  in  the  yards  ten  years  has 
worked  himself  up  to  a  5o-cent  job ;  but  he  is  exceptional,  and 
these  two  races  have  as  yet  only  shared  with  the  negroes  the 
unskilled  positions.  The  negroes  first  came  during  the  strike 
of  1894,  when  many  were  imported  from  the  South  and  large 
cities.  An  intense  race  hatred  sprang  up  among  the  Americans 
and  Europeans,  who  thought  the  negroes  were  favored  by  the 
employers ;  and  this  seemed  to  be  leading  to  a  race  war.  The 
conflict  was  averted  by  the  union,  which  admitted  the  negroes 
on  equal  terms  with  the  whites.  This  hatred  has  been  renewed 
during  the  recent  strike,  when  several  thousand  negroes  were 
again  imported.  Notwithstanding  the  alleged  favoritism  towards 
the  negroes,  they  have  not  advanced  to  the  skilled  positions, 
mainly  because  they  dislike  the  long  apprenticeship  and  steady 
work  at  low  pay  which  lead  to  such  positions.  As  strike  breakers 
they  were  attracted  by  the  easy  work,  free  board  and  lodging, 
and  wages  of  $2.25  a  day  instead  of  the  $1.85  asked  by  the 
union;  but  in  times  of  peace  they  are  not  steady  workers  at 
the  low  wages  of  the  Slav. 

Italians  have  never  found  a  place  in  the  trade ;  and  the 
experience  of  the  Greeks,  who  first  appeared  in  1904,  has  been 
curious.  Several  hundred  Greeks  in  Chicago  have  established 
themselves  as  fruit  dealers.  When  three  hundred  of  their  coun- 
trymen, recently  landed  from  Macedonia,  entered  the  yards  these 
storekeepers  were  boycotted  and  several  of  them  bankrupted. 
Through  the  Greek  consul  and  the  Greek  priest  the  merchants 
endeavored  to  persuade  the  Greeks  to  withdraw  from  the  yards ; 
but  they  did  not  leave  until  the  strike  was  settled,  and  then 
they  went  in  a  body  to  another  part  of  the  country. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  mingling  of  races  in  the  stock  yards 
is  similar  to  that  in  other  large  American  industries,  and  the 
problem  is  a  trying  one  both  for  the  civic  neighborhood  and 
for  the  union  organizers.  Unlike  the  union  in  1886  under  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  the  present  organization  sprang  from  the 
butcher  workmen  themselves ;  the  former  had  been  officered 
from  without.  In  the  union  meetings  the  speeches  are  translated 


248         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

often  into  three  or  four  languages,  and  much  trouble  has  been 
occasioned  by  dishonest  or  prejudiced  interpreters,  though 
with  experience  these  are  weeded  out.  The  races  are  brought 
together ;  and,  where  four  years  ago  scarcely  a  Polish,  Slovak, 
or  Lithuanian  family  had  a  member  who  could  speak  or  under- 
stand English,  now  nearly  all  have  each  at  least  one  such  mem- 
ber. Race  conflicts  were  infrequent  because  the  races  were 
kept  apart  by  language,  distrust,  and  the  influence  of  the 
priests ;  but  there  were  frequent  factional  fights  between  reli- 
gious societies  of  the  same  race,  especially  among  the  Poles, 
each  society  having  its  own  patron  saint.  There  were  also 
many  arrests  for  drunkenness,  wife-beating,  and  neighborhood 
quarrels.  Curiously  enough  these  disorderly  acts  dropped  off 
entirely  from  the  date  when  the  strike  took  effect,  and  the 
arrests  fell  off  90  per  cent.  The  strike  continued  eight  weeks, 
and  the  police  inspector  in  charge  of  the  district  is  reported  as 
saying :  "  The  leaders  are  to  be  congratulated  for  conducting 
the  most  peaceful  strike  Chicago  has  ever  had.  Compared  with 
other  big  strikes,  such  as  the  railroad  strike  of  1894,  the  team- 
sters' strike  of  1902,  or  the  stock-yards  strike  of  1886,  there 
was  no  violence." 

The  substitution  of  races  has  evidently  run  along  the  line  of 
lower  standards  of  living.  The  latest  arrivals,  the  Lithuanians 
and  Slovaks,  are  probably  the  most  oppressed  of  the  peasants  of 
Europe ;  and  18  cents  for  a  day  of  12  or  14  hours  in  the  Car- 
pathian foothills  becomes  18  cents  an  hour  in  the  stock  yards. 
Even  with  only  four  days'  work  a  week,  the  Slovak's  position 
is  greatly  improved ;  for  in  Uhrosko  he  had  no  work  in  winter. 
Yet  his  improved  position  shows  itself,  not  in  more  expensive 
living,  but  in  fabulous  savings  gained  by  packing  sometimes  as 
many  as  twelve  persons  in  three  rooms,  taking  in  boarders,  and 
sending  his  children  to  work.  The  new  arrivals  of  this  class  of 
labor  swell  the  ranks  of  the  thousands  waiting  at  the  packing- 
house gates  every  morning,  and  to  them  there  is  little  differ- 
ence between  18  cents  and  16  cents  an  hour.  Yet  it  is  most 
remarkable  that  those  already  on  the  ground  came  out  with  the 
union  and  did  not  go  back  until  the  strike  was  declared  off. 


SLAUGHTERING  AND  MEAT  -PACKING  249 

It  is  not  surprising  that,  with  wage  conditions,  racial  elements, 
and  former  grievances  such  as  they  were,  the  union,  when  it 
acquired  power,  should  have  carried  a  high  hand.  Besides  the 
restrictions  themselves  the  manner  in  which  they  were  enforced 
was  irritating.  Every  department  or  division  had  its  "  house  com- 
mittee "  of  three  stewards,  who  often  acted  as  if  they  had  more 
authority  than  the  foreman  or  superintendent;  and  frequently, 
when  a  union  rule  was  violated,  they  stopped  the  work  "  in  the 
middle  of  the  game."  When  it  is  stated  that  the  superintend- 
ent of  one  of  the  largest  firms  had  to  deal  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty  of  these  committees,  it  need  create  no  surprise  to 
learn  that  he  felt  relieved  when  the  strike  came.  The  principal 
grievance  was  the  violation  of  their  own  constitution  and  agree- 
ments, which  forbade  locals  or  house  committees  to  stop  work 
and  required  all  matters  to  be  referred  to  higher  offices  for 
settlement  with  the  company.  The  rank  and  file  and  the  lower 
offices  were  insubordinate.  Yet  the  superintendents  observed 
that  the  unions,  as  they  gained  experience,  were  electing  more 
conservative  leaders  and  that  petty  troubles  were  being  more 
easily  handled.  This  encouraging  prospect  for  the  union  was 
blighted  by  the  blunder  and  disaster  of  the  strike.  When  they 
returned  for  work  the  union  leaders  and  spokesmen  were 
either  not  reemployed  or  were  laid  off  afterwards  when  busi- 
ness slackened. 

J.  R.  COMMONS. 


X 

THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE1 

In  1887  typesetting  was  essentially  the  same  art  as  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  While  other  branches  of  the  printing  trade 
had  been  revolutionized,  the  compositor  had  not  advanced  in 
his  process  beyond  the  point  he  had  reached  four  hundred 
years  before.  Probably  no  other  handicraft  employing  such  a 
large  number  of  persons  underwent  as  little  change  during  this 
period,  so  full  of  industrial  reconstruction.  Since  1890  machine 
composition  has  been  rapidly  supplanting  typesetting  by  hand. 
The  machine  is  still  constantly  encroaching  on  the  field  of  the 
hand  compositor,  but  the  period  of  introduction  may  properly  be 
considered  as  concluded  by  the  year  1900.  By  that  time  the 
craft  had  adjusted  itself  to  the  new  conditions  and  the  future 
trend  of  events  could  be  foreseen  with  some  clearness. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  study  to  estimate  the  dis- 
placement of  labor  due  to  the  linotype,2  to  describe  the  policy 
pursued  by  the  union  printers  with  reference  to  the  machine  and 
the  economic  effects  of  the  machine  on  the  workmen  engaged 
in  the  trade,  and  finally  to  examine  how  far  the  policy  of  the 
International  Typographical  Union  may  be  successfully  adopted 
by  other  trade  unions  during  periods  of  machine  introduction. 

1  From  the  Yale  Re-view,  Vol.  XIII,  1904,  pp.  251-273.     See  Nicholson,  The 
Effects  of  Machinery  on  Wages,  London,  1892. 

2  There  are  several  kinds  of  typesetting  and  typecasting  machines,  but  the 
Mergenthaler  linotype  has  exercised  such  a  predominant  influence  that  attention 
may  be  confined  to  it  without  danger  of  serious  error.    According  to  the  returns 
made  by  local  unions  to  the  secretary  of  the  International  Typographical  Union, 
the  total  number  of  typesetting  and  typecasting  machines  of  all  makes  in  opera- 
tion on  January  i,  1904,  in  union  and  nonunion  offices  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
six  hundred  and  twenty-five  local  unions  was  7129,  and  of  these  6375  were  lino- 
types.   The  proportion  of  linotypes  was  probably  not  quite  so  great  outside  the 
territory  covered  by  the  Typographical  Union,  but  the  correction  required  would 
not  be  very  great. 

250 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          251 

The  displacement  of  hand  compositors  by  the  introduction  of 
the  linotype  may  be  estimated  with  some  accuracy  and  will 
afford  an  index  to  the  industrial  disturbance  involved.  The 
following  table  gives  the  number  of  linotypes  manufactured  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  for  each  year  from  1887  to  1903  : 


1888 

oo 
.  .     66 

l8Q7  . 

/  J' 
CIQ 

1889 

C7 

1898  . 

,   6^6 

1890 

C.7 

1800 

<:66 

1891 

J/ 

60 

IQOO  . 

714 

1802 

288 

.  .  .  661 

i8cn 

568 

IQO2  . 

7C7 

1804. 

.   890 

I9O1  . 

.   891 

i8oc  . 

.  IO?6 

•i-"  i._i 

O^,  O 

Of  the  8618  machines  manufactured  somewhat  less  than 
500  have  been  shipped  out  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 
and  an  approximately  equal  number  have  been  destroyed  by  fire 
or  otherwise  put  out  of  use.  About  7500  linotypes  were  in 
operation  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  on  January  I,  I9O4.1 

The  average  rate  of  composition  on  the  linotype  at  the  present 
time  is  estimated  by  competent  authorities  at  between  4000 
and  5000  ems  per  hour.  The  rate  of  hand  composition  does 
not  on  the  average  exceed  1000  ems  per  hour.  A  linotype 
operator  is,  therefore,  able  to  set  as  much  in  one  hour  as  a  hand 
compositor  does  in  four.  Assuming  that  the  7500  machines 
are  in  operation  the  same  number  of  hours  each  day  as  hand 
compositors  formerly  worked,  the  possible  displacement  of  hand 
compositors  to  January  I,  1904,  may  be  reckoned  at  30,000. 
Two  modifications  must,  however,  be  made  in  this  calculation. 
In  the  first  place,  many  linotypes  are  worked  by  two  or  three 
shifts  of  operators.2  The  number  of  machine  operators  in  the 
United  States,  operating  7129  machines  of  all  makes,  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  International  Typographical  Union  on 
January  i,  1904,  was  10,604,  or  approximately  150  per  cent  of 
the  number  of  machines.3  If  allowance  is  made  for  this  fact, 

1  The  officials  of  the  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Company  have  kindly  supplied 
data  on  which  the  above  estimate  has  been  based. 

2  See  The  Typographical  Journal,  February,  1904,  p.  212.         8  Ibid. 


252         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  estimate  of  possible  displacement  is  increased  to  45,000 
hand  compositors.  Some  deduction  must  be  made  from  this 
total  on  account  of  the  reduction  in  working  hours.  The  hand 
compositor  worked  on  the  average  about  ten  hours  per  day, 
while  linotype  operators  do  not  average  more  than  eight  hours.1 
Deducting  20  per  cent  for  this  cause,  we  may  finally  estimate 
the  possible  displacement  of  hand  compositors  at  36,000. 

The  actual  displacement  has  been  far  less  than  the  possible 
displacement.  A  large  part  of  the  7500  linotypes  would  never 
have  come  into  use  if  the  economies  incident  to  their  operation 
had  not  been  so  large  as  to  lead  to  an  increase  in  the  amount 
of  printing  done.  There  is  no  practicable  method  of  separating 
the  displacement  occurring  at  the  outset  from  that  later  appar- 
ent displacement  due  to  expansion  of  the  market.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  table  on  page  251  leads,  however,  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  years  1894,  1895,  and  1896  were  marked  by  a  large 
amount  of  actual  displacement  of  hand  compositors.2  The  rapid 
introduction  of  machines  in  these  years  resulted  chiefly  from 
the  desire  of  newspaper  publishers  to  reduce  the  cost  of  com- 
position. A  considerable  part  of  the  more  moderate  increase 
of  machines  since  1896  has  been  due  to  an  increasing  demand 
for  the  product  of  the  machine. 

Number  of  offices  included  in  investigation 15 

Number  of  linotypes  in  use 293 

Average  number  of  ems  set  on  a  linotype  in  an  hour 3445 

Number  of  printers  employed  before  the  introduction  of  machines  .  .  .  .1512 
Number  of  substitutes  employed  before  the  introduction  of  machines  .  .  .  396 
Number  of  printers  employed  after  the  introduction  of  machines  ....  968 
Percentage  of  decrease 36 

Even,  however,  during  the  earlier  period  there  is  evidence 
that  the  displacement  was  not  nearly  so  great  as  the  estimate 
of  possible  displacement  would  indicate.  The  above  statis- 
tics, compiled  from  a  report  made  in  1895  by  Mr.  William 
Ferguson,  secretary  of  the  New  York  Typographical  Union, 

1  See  p.  264  for  the  data  on  which  this  calculation  is  made. 

2  Additional  evidence  to  this  effect  is  found  in  the  many  complaints  of  dis- 
placement contained  during  these  years  in  The  Typographical  Journal,  the  official 
journal  of  the  union  printers.    These  decrease  greatly  after  1896. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          253 

to  the  New  York  Labor  Commissioner,  throw  considerable  light 
on  this  point.1 

The  figures  given  include  the  whole  working  force  of  print- 
ers, many  of  whom,  on  account  of  the  character  of  their  work, 
were  entirely  unaffected  by  the  machine.  It  appears  that  293 
linotypes  displaced  544  printers.  The  actual  displacement  in 
these  offices  in  the  initial  stage  was,  therefore,  at  the  rate  of 
less  than  two  printers  for  each  machine. 

This  difference  between  the  possible  displacement  of  hand 
compositors  and  the  actual  displacement  of  printers  in  the 
early  period  was  due  to  several  causes.  First  and  most  impor- 
tant was  the  practice  of  putting  men  already  at  work  as  hand 
compositors  in  charge  of  machines.  The  229  machines  were 
manned  by  from  300  to  400  journeymen  printers.  The  dis- 
placement of  hand  compositors  was  therefore  much  greater 
than  the  displacement  of  printers.  Moreover,  the  speed  of  the 
machine  operators  was  less  than  it  is  at  present.  The  average 
number  of  ems  set  per  hour,  it  will  be  noted,  was  found  to  be 
3445.  The  present  rate  of  4000  to  5000  ems  was  attained  only 
after  a  considerable  part  of  the  operators  had  been  some  years 
at  the  machine.  New  operators  in  most  cases  reach  the  present 
average  rate  only  after  some  years  of  practice. 
"""Although  the  great  increase  in  the  demand  for  the  machine 
product  naturally  came  after  the  machine  had  been  somewhat 
generally  introduced,  even  in  the  introductory  period  the  cheap- 
ness of  machine  composition  led  to  an  increase  in  the  amount 
afrcom position  done.  For  some  years  prior  to  the  introduction 
of  the  linotype  the  practice  of  using  "plate  matter"  had  been 
growing  among  newspaper  publishers,  the  high  cost  of  hand 
composition  having  forced  the  publishers  to  the  use  of  an  unde- 
sirable substitute.  The  extension  of  this  practice  had  been  for 
many  years  a  frequent  occasion  of  friction  between  the  pub- 
lishers and  the  local  unions  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union.  The  low  cost  of  linotype  composition  caused  in  most 
machine  offices  an  entire  abandonment  of  the  use  of  "plate 

1  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
Vol.  I,  1895,  PP-  370-372. 


254         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

matter,"  resulting  in  an  immediate  increase  of  printers'  work. 
Furthermore,  the  producing  power  of  the  composing  room  was 
increased  in  order  to  secure  a  greater  effectiveness  during  the 
last  few  hours  before  going  to  press.1  Editors  canceled  machine- 
set  matter  with  much  less  reluctance.  To  a  casual  observer  the 
composition  of  a  newspaper  would  appear  an  unpromising  field 
for  the  operation  of  the  law  of  elasticity  of  demand,  but  the 
common  experience  of  printers  and  publishers  indicates  that  in 
numerous  ways  the  cheapening  of  the  cost  of  composition  acted 
as  an  immediate  stimulus  to  the  demand. 

In  the. second  period,  roughly  designated  as  beginning  with 
the  year  1897,  consumers  shared  more  largely  in  the  economy 
of  production  resulting  from  the  use  of  the  linotype.  The 
larger  profits  of  newspaper  publishers  led  to  strong  competition, 
which  partly  took  the  form  of  an  increase  in  the  size  of  the 
newspapers.  The  linotypes  installed  for  this  purpose  did  not 
displace  hand  compositors,  but  on  the  contrary  enlarged  the 
field  of  employment  for  those  printers  who  could  learn  the  oper- 
ation of  the  machine.2  In  the  book  and  job  trade  the  cheapen- 
ing of  the  product  through  competition  caused  an  enormous 
increase  in  the  amount  of  composition  done.  As  early  as  1896 
the  American  Bookmaker,  a  trade  journal,  naively  complained 
that  "  employing  printers  foolishly  give  to  the  public  advan- 
tages which  should  accrue  to  them.  ...  It  is  probably  safe  to 
suggest  that  not  one  in  ten  of  those  who  have  adopted  type- 
setting machines  are  making  any  more  net  profit  than  they  did 
when  all  of  their  type  was  set  by  hand."3  The  result  has  been 
that  since  1897  an  expanding  demand  has  more  than  offset  the 
displacing  power  of  the  machine. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  hand  compositors  affected  by  the 
introduction  of  the  linotype  were  members  of  the  International 

1  See  below,  p.  264. 

2  The  general  opinion  among  printers  and  publishers  appears  to  be  that  in 
those  newspaper  offices  which  introduced  linotypes  about  1895,  the  number  of 
printers  employed  by  the  year  1900  was  as  great  as  it  was  before  the  introduction 
of  linotypes.    See  on  this  point  Report  of  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  VII,  p.  279 
(testimony  of  Mr.  Donnelly,  president  of  the  International  Typographical  Union). 

3  Quoted  in  The  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  204. 


• 

THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          255 

Typographical  Union.  While  this  union  enjoys  the  distinction 
of  being  the  oldest  national  organization  of  trade  unionists  in 
the  United  States,  the  subordinate  unions  were  until  recently 
almost  independent,  of  the  national  body.  About  1888  the 
national  body  began  to  absorb  power  from  the  subordinate 
unions,  and  this  movement  has  gone  on  slowly  to  the  present 
time.  To  a  considerable  extent,  therefore,  the  policy  of  the 
printers  with  reference  to  the  machine  was  determined  by  the 
local  unions.  So  large,  however,  were  the  interests  evidently 
at  stake  that  local  unions  followed  certain  general  lines  of 
policy  laid  down  by  the  national  conventions  and  advised  by 
the  national  executive  board.1 

At  the  thirty-sixth  annual  session  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  held  in  Kansas  City  in  June,  1888,  a  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  that  "the  International  Typographical  Union 
favors  the  recognition  of  such  [typesetting]  machines,"  and 
"  recommends  that  subordinate  unions  .  .  .  take  speedy  action 
looking  to  their  recognition  and  regulation,  endeavoring  every- 
where to  secure  their  operation  by  union  men  upon  a  scale  of 
wages  which  shall  secure  compensation  equal  to  that  paid  hand 
compositors."2  At  this  time  less  than  100  machines  were  in 
operation  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  and  the  greater 
part  of  these  were  being  run  experimentally. 

By  the  time  the  session  of  1889  was  held  the  growing  impor- 
tance of  the  question  led  to  the  formulation  of  the  union's 
policy  in  a  general  law,  controlling  the  action  of  all  subordinate 
unions.  With  unimportant  changes  in  phraseology,  this  law 
has  remained  in  force.  In  its  original  form  it  read  as  follows  : 
"The  International  Typographical  Union  directs  that  in  all 
offices  within  its  jurisdiction  where  typesetting  machines  are 
used  practical  printers  shall  be  employed  to  run  them  and  also 
that  subordinate  unions  shall  regulate  the  scale  of  wages  on 

1  The  evident  necessity  for  the   adoption  of  a  common  machine  policy  has 
been  a  powerful  influence  in  hastening  the  movement  toward  centralization  in  the 
Typographical  Union. 

2  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Thirty-Sixth  Annual  Session  of  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  1888,  p.  181. 


256         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

such  machines."  l  Curiously  enough,  the  printers  were  at  firsi 
reluctant  to  operate  the  machines,  and  at  the  thirty-eighth  ses- 
sion resolutions  were  adopted  urging  "  that  members  of  subor- 
dinate unions  should  learn  to  operate  .  .  .  machines  wherever 
in  use." 2 

By  June  of  the  next  year,  1891,  when  the  thirty-ninth  annual 
session  of  the  Typographical  Union  was  held,  the  delegates 
were  convinced  of  the  grave  importance  of  the  machine  ques- 
tion. In  February  the  subordinate  union  at  Indianapolis  had 
sent  two  of  its  members  to  New  York  to  investigate  at  first 
hand  the  working  of  machines.  The  committee  found  that 
operators  on  the  improved  linotype  were  able  to  produce  an 
average  of  3000  ems  per  hour  and  believed  a  speed  of  4000 
ems  possible.  They  recommended  that  wages  for  operators 
should  be  on  a  time  scale  and  that  the  hours  of  labor  should 
be  shorter  than  those  prevailing  for  hand  composition.3  The 
report  of  this  committee,  published  both  as  a  pamphlet  and  in 
The  Typographical  Journal,  exercised  a  large  influence  on  the 
convention  held  in  the  following  June.  At  that  session  a  spe- 
cial committee  on  typesetting  devices  recommended  "that  a 
weekly  or  time  scale  be  adopted  for  the  operation  of  machines," 
and  "that  the  hours  of  labor  upon  them  be  reduced  to  the 
lowest  possible  number,  eight  hours  being  the  maximum."4  It 
was  urged  that  a  time  scale  was  more  equitable  than  the  piece 
system  on  account  of  the  newness  of  the  work  and  the  con- 
sequent difficulty  of  estimating  the  average  output  to  be 
expected.  The  demand  for  a  reduction  in  hours  was  based  on 
the  ground  that  "  the  work  upon  machines  was  of  a  more  exhaus- 
tive character  mentally  and  physically  than  hand  composition." 

1  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Thirty-Seventh  Annual  Session  of  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  1889,  p.  91. 

2  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Thirty-Eighth  Annual  Session  of  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  1890,  p.  153. 

8  Typesetting  Machines.  Report  of  an  Inquiry  into  their  Merits  and  the 
General  Situation  surrounding  them,  made  by  Typographical  Union  No.  i, 
Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

4  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Thirty-Ninth  Annual  Session  of  the  International 
Typographical  Union,  1891,  p.  196. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          257 

The  recommendations  of  the  committee  were  adopted  and 
became  binding  on  the  subordinate  unions.  The  strong  feeling 
in  the  craft  for  local  autonomy  secured  the  repeal  of  these  two 
laws  at  the  session  of  the  International  Union  in  1893,*  but 
they  became  the  basis  for  practically  all  wage  scales  formed, 
and  the  great  majority  of  linotype  operators  work  at  the  pres- 
ent time  on  a  time  scale  and  have  an  eight-hour  day. 

The  machine  policy  of  the  union  was  evidently  based  on  the 
requirement  that  the  machines  should  be  operated  only  by 
journeymen  printers.  This  rule  had  two  distinct  parts.  In  the 
first  place,  it  asserted  the  claim  that  the  operation  of  the  machine 
was  printers'  work.  Important  as  this  part  of  the  rule  was  in 
minimizing  displacement,  it  involved  no  break  in  the  former 
practice  of  the  union  and  in  effect  was  simply  an  extension  of 
jurisdiction  over  machine  operators.  A  different  phase  of  the 
law  was  the  prohibition  against  the  operation  of  the  machine 
by  apprentices.  The  uniform  custom  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union  hitherto  had  been  to  consider  any  of  the  work 
in  a  printing  office  proper  for  an  apprentice. 

There  has  been  a  slow  movement  towards  the  incorporation 
of  machine  work  in  the  regular  training  of  the  apprentice.  In 
1893  it  was  provided  that  "apprentices  may  work  on  machines 
in  the  last  year  of  apprenticeship,  who  shall  be  paid  two  thirds 
of  the  wages  of  regular  operators  until  their  time  of  apprentice- 
ship shall  have  expired." 2  This  rule  was  anomalous  in  two 
particulars  :  it  restricted  the  time  of  learning  the  machine  to 
a  part  of  the  apprenticeship  period,  and  it  formulated  a  wage 
scale  for  a  class  of  apprentices.  In  both  respects  the  regula- 
tion was  entirely  opposed  to  the  former  practice  of  the  union. 
The  increasing  use  of  machines  and  the  rapid  displacement 
of  hand  compositors  led  at  the  next  session  of  the  Interna- 
tional Union  to  a  reaction  and  to  the  withdrawal  of  this  slight 
concession.  The  new  enactment  provided  that  "indentured 
apprentices  may  work  on  machines  during  the  last  six  weeks 
of  apprenticeship,  providing  they  receive  the  scale  of  the 

1  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-First  Annual  Session  of  the  International 
Typographical  Union,  1893,  p.  201.  2  Ibid.,  p.  200. 


258         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

subordinate  union."  l  As  very  few  apprentices  in  the  printing 
trade  have  been  indentured  during  recent  years,  this  modifica- 
tion of  the  prohibition  was  not  important. 

By  a  law  passed  at  the  national  session  of  1899,  "regularly 
employed  apprentices  in  machine  offices  "  were  "  privileged  to 
practice  on  machines  during  all  of  the  last  three  months  of  their 
apprenticeship."  2  Since  the  product  of  apprentices  who  "prac- 
ticed "  on  machines  could  not  be  used  by  the  employer,  while 
any  other  part  of  their  output  had  a  market  value,  not  many 
employers  were  likely  to  put  apprentices  during  working  hours 
at  "  practicing  "  on  machines.  An  apprentice  by  virtue  of  the 
law  might,  however,  acquire  a  small  amount  of  knowledge  out 
of  working  hours.  It  was  not  until  1903  that  the  union  print- 
ers were  willing  to  permit  the  machine  product  of  apprentices 
to  be  used.  The  session  of  1903  enacted  that  "regularly 
employed  apprentices  shall  be  privileged  to  work  on  machines 
during  all  of  the  last  three  months  of  their  apprenticeship  and 
the  learners'  scale  shall  apply  to  such  apprentices." 3  This 
small  relaxation  was  proposed  and  strongly  urged  by  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  International  Union. 

The  Typographical  Union  has  been  actuated  by  two  motives 
in  the  enactment  of  legislation  prohibiting  the  operation  of 
machines  by  apprentices.  The  members  felt  strongly  that  as 
far  as  possible  the  opportunity  to  learn  the  new  devices  ought 
to  be  restricted  to  the  displaced  hand  compositors.  The  appren- 
tices had  far  greater  adaptability  than  the  displaced  men,  who, 
in  a  great  majority  of  cases,  must  learn  the  machine  or  quit 
the  trade.  The  slight  modification  in  the  restriction  of  machine 
work  to  journeymen  is  due  to  the  passing  of  the  early  stage 
in  the  introduction  of  the  machine.  The  printer  who  was 
displaced  by  the  machine  has  either  found  his  place  in  the 
trade  or  has  abandoned  it  for  some  other  occupation.  The 

1  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Second  Session  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  1894,  p.  31. 

2  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Fifth  Session  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  1899,  P-  5°- 

8  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Ninth  Session  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  1903,  p.  no. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          259 

maintenance  of  the  rule  in  its  present  form  is  due  to  the  strong 
fear  that  machine  work  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  men  who  are 
not  printers.  If  the  Typographical  Union  were  fully  convinced 
that  the  operation  of  machines  was  neither  practicable  nor 
profitable  except  by  journeymen  printers  trained  in  the  trade 
as  a  whole,  there  would  be  no  reason  for  the  continuance  of  the 
restriction  on  the  operation  of  machines  by  apprentices. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  policy  of  manning  the  machines 
with  printers  the  subordinate  unions  found  it  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  journeymen  an  opportunity  of  learning  the  new  device. 
Since  a  linotype  operator  produces  for  the  first  few  weeks  only 
a  small  amount  of  matter,  employers  required  some  conces- 
sions in  wages  during  this  period.  The  unions,  usually  after 
conferences  with  employers,  formulated  what  are  known  as 
"learners'  scales."  The  wages  paid  under  these  scales  was 
lower  than  the  regular  wage  for  operators  and  the  period  of 
apprenticeship  was  limited.  The  International  Union  left  the 
decision  as  to  the  terms  of  "  learners'  scales  "  entirely  to  the 
subordinate  unions,  except  that  from  1896  to  1898  the  period 
of  apprenticeship  was  fixed  at  two  months.  The  local  unions 
showed  themselves  for  the  most  part  keenly  alive  to  the  impor- 
tance of  securing  for  their  members  a  knowledge  of  the  machine. 
The  formulation  of  a  "  learners'  scale  "  obviated  the  necessity 
of  bringing  expert  operators  from  other  cities,  and  in  so  far  as 
this  was  accomplished  avoided  the  friction  which  would  have 
resulted  from  the  transfer  of  operators  from  one  city  to  another. 

So  important  did  the  avoidance  of  local  displacement  appear 
to  the  union  printers  that  they  attempted  in  1894  to  strengthen 
the  hands  of  local  unions  by  a  general  law,  which  required  that 
"  members  of  a  subordinate  union  employed  in  an  office  at  the 
time  of  the  introduction  of  machines  shall  have  preference  as 
operators,  one  expert  operator  being  allowed."  1  This  law  only 
remained  in  force  a  short  time.  An  appeal  against  its  enforce- 
ment was  taken  to  the  international  president  by  an  expert 
operator,  who  maintained  that  his  rights  as  a  member  of  the 

1  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Second  Annual  Session  of  the  Inter- 
national Typographical  Union,  1894,  p.  38. 


26o        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

union  were  thereby  infringed.  President  Prescott,  in  the  case 
of  Wandress  v.  San  Francisco  Typographical  Union,  No.  21, 
sustained  this  contention  on  the  ground  that  the  law  was  a 
violation  of  the  constitution  of  the  International  Union,  under 
which  a  member  with  a  traveling  card  is  entitled  to  the  "  friend- 
ship and  good  offices  "  of  any  union  to  which  the  card  may  be 
presented.1  Mr.  Prescott  was  careful  to  point  out  that  the 
rights  of  a  traveling  member  would  not  be  abridged  where  an 
employer  "  of  his  own  volition  or  at  the  instigation  of  any  per- 
son or  persons  decided  to  receive  no  application  for  situations 
until  those  who  were  working  in  his  office  had  been  given  an 
opportunity  to  show  their  ability  or  inability  to  manipulate 
machines."2  The  burden  of  avoiding  local  displacement  was 
thus  placed  entirely  on  the  subordinate  unions,  and  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases  agreements  were  concluded  with  employers  by 
which  their  old  employees  were  retained  as  machine  operators.3 

Several  of  the  larger  local  unions  went  further  in  their  anxiety 
to  meet  the  demand  for  skilled  operators.  Machines  were 
bought  or  rented  and  members  were  permitted  to  practice  on 
them.4  The  introduction  of  machines  was  undoubtedly  much 
facilitated  by  the  constant  efforts  of  the  unions  to  supply  the 
needed  operators.  The  unions  were  actuated  by  a  keen  desire  to 
control  the  machine  and  the  fear  that,  if  the  printers  did  not  fur- 
nish the  operators,  they  would  be  secured  from  some  other  source. 

The  subordinate  unions  frequently  had  to  deal  with  proposi- 
tions to  decrease  the  scale  for  hand  composition  in  order  to 
enable  employers  to  meet  the  competition  of  the  machine.  This 
matter  was  entirely  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  subordinate 
unions,  but  the  officials  of  the  International  Union  strongly 
advised  against  any  attempt  to  keep  the  machine  out  by  cutting 
down  the  price  for  hand  work.  In  his  address  to  the  forty- 
second  annual  session  Mr.  Prescott  said :  "  Those  familiar  with 

1  The  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  301.  2  Ibid. 

3  Some  unions  pursued  a  less  far-sighted  policy  by  refusing  to  grant  reasonable 
"  learners'  scales."    See   The   Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  VI,  p.  3.    The  officials 
of  the  International  Union  constantly  impressed  upon  the  locals  the  necessity  of 
securing  for  their  members  an  opportunity  to  learn  the  machine. 

4  The  Typographical  Journal^  Vol.  VI,  p.  7. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          261 

the  productiveness  of  machines  are  agreed  that  hand  work  can- 
not begin  to  compete  with  them,  and  it  is  therefore  futile  to 
attempt  to  stay  the  tide  of  their  introduction  by  a  reduction  in 
the  scale  unless  we  are  prepared  to  suffer  level  decreases  amount- 
ing to  40  to  50  per  cent,  and  at  that  figure  a  better  living  could 
be  secured  at  almost  any  unskilled  avocation.  A  serious  reduc- 
tion in  the  rate  of  hand  composition  is  sure  to  affect  the  machine 
scale  also."  l  Notwithstanding  this  eminently  sane  advice,  some 
of  the  hand  compositors,  as  they  saw  themselves  displaced, 
turned  to  their  only  weapon  of  defense,  competition  with  the 
machine.2  One  method  was  for  a  group  of  compositors  to  form 
a  partnership  and  furnish  matter  ready  set  to  publishers  at  a 
price  as  low  as  that  formerly  paid  for  composition  in  the  pub- 
lishers' offices.  The  compositors  paid  their  own  rent,  their  fuel 
and  light  bills,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  type.  The  scale  of  the 
union  was  thus  underbid  by  its  own  members.  Another  prac- 
tice much  in  vogue  in  small  cities  was  for  a  number  of  displaced 
compositors  to  print  on  a  cooperative  plan  a  small  newspaper. 
Assisted  by  the  sympathy  of  the  community,  they  were  able  in 
some  cases  to  make  a  living  wage.3  The  unions  in  common 
decency  could  hardly  deal  harshly  with  such  covert  methods  of 
competition,  but  the  union  scales  for  hand  composition  were 
rarely  lowered  for  the  purpose  of  competing  with  the  machine. 
There  was  practically  no  direct  opposition  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  machine.  Occasionally  a  small  union  refused  for 
a  time  to  make  a  scale  for  machines,  but  the  International 
Union  steadily  discountenanced  such  a  policy,  and,  since  the 
subordinate  unions  could  not  legally  declare  a  strike  without 
the  sanction  of  the  executive  board  of  the  International  Union, 
they  were  soon  persuaded  to  adopt  a  different  line  of  conduct. 
The  Kansas  printers  were  able  to  keep  the  machine  out  of  the 
state  printing  office  for  a  time  by  political  influence.4  But  in 

1  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Second  Annual  Session  of  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  1894,  p.  3. 

2  The  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  VI,  p.  I  ;  ibid.,  Vol.  X,  p.  251  and  p.  342  ; 
ibid.,  Vol.  XT,  p.  304. 

8  Ibid.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  7  and  p.  3.  4  Ibid.,  Vol.  X,  p.  453. 


262         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

general  the  printers  acquiesced  in  the  new  order  of  things 
without  a  struggle. 

During  the  years  1894  to  1896  many  printers  were  unable  to 
secure  work.  The  depression  of  business  intensified  the  dis- 
tress occasioned  by  the  introduction  of  the  machine.  No  safe 
estimate  can  be  made  of  the  extent  of  unemployment  among 
printers  at  this  time,  but  some  indication  is  furnished  by  the 
fact  that  the  Germania  Typographia,  the  national  union  of  the 
German  printers,  with  a  membership  of  about  1300,  paid 
$17,262. 50 1  in  out-of-work  benefits  during  the  fiscal  year  1893- 
1894.  Twenty  per  cent  of  its  members  were  unemployed  in 
October,  i893.2  The  proportion  of  unemployed  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Typographical  Union  was  not  nearly  so  large,  but 
it  was  undoubtedly  very  great. 

The  International  Typographical  Union  has  never  paid  an 
out-of-work  benefit,  but  has  relied  for  the  relief  of  unemployed 
members  on  the  sharing  of  work.  In  former  periods  of  indus- 
trial depression  members  without  regular  employment  had  been 
given  a  part  of  the  work  controlled  by  their  more  fortunate 
fellow-unionists.  The  desire  to  facilitate  the  sharing  of  work 
had  led  to  the  building  up  of  an  elaborate  set  of  rules  consti- 
tuting what  is  known  among  union  printers  as  the  "  substitute 
system."  In  the  first  year  of  the  introduction  of  the  machine 
this  system  gave  temporary  relief  to  the  unemployed,  and  as 
machines  were  installed  the  displaced  compositors  flocked  into 
the  remaining  hand  offices  as  substitutes.  The  continual  de- 
crease in  the  number  of  hand  offices  added  to  the  number  of 
substitutes  and  diminished  their  opportunities  for  securing 
employment.  The  unemployed  were  chiefly  workmen  of  ad- 
vanced age  who  were  unable  to  operate  machines  at  sufficient 
speed.  They  could  not  secure  employment  in  other  branches 
of  the  trade  because  they  had  become  highly  specialized  in  the 
setting  of  straight  matter.  Some  of  them  went  to  the  smaller 
towns  to  which  the  machine  had  not  come ;  others  abandoned 
the  printing  industry. 

1  FiinfundzwaGzigjahcige  Geschichte  der  Deutsch-Amerikanischen  Typogra- 
phia, von  Hugo  Miller,  p:  58.  2  Ibid.,  p.  45. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          263 

Even  if  the  International  Union  had  had  an  adequate  system 
of  out-of-work  benefits,  it  is  doubtful  if  this  class  of  composi- 
tors would  have  been  materially  helped.  Their  retention  in  the 
printing  trade  was  an  impossibility,  and  the  inevitable  readjust- 
ment could  be  made  better  at  an  earlier  time  than  after  a  period 
of  precarious  livelihood  made  possible  by  benefits.  Other  print- 
ers were  only  temporarily  displaced  and,  with  the  revival  of 
business  and  the  enlargement  of  demand,  they  found  places  in 
the  trade.  The  large  local  unions  exerted  themselves  to  tide 
their  unfortunate  members  over  the  period  of  depression.  In 
several  cities  the  number  of  days  which  any  member  might 
work  in  a  week  was  limited  to  five,  in  order  that  the  substitute 
system  might  afford  relief  for  larger  numbers. 
^The  most  pronounced  economic  advantage  accruing  to  the 
printers  from  the  introduction  of  the  machine  has  been  the 

I material  reduction  secured  in  the  length  of  the  working  day. 

Certain  peculiar  trade  conditions  favored  the  Typographical 
Union  in  its  demand  for  a  short  working  day  on  machines. 
The  machine  was  first  introduced  in  newspaper  offices,  and 
even  at  the  present  time  the  number  of  machines  in  newspaper 
offices  far  exceeds  the  number  in  book  and  job  offices.  The 
following  table  gives  the  number  of  machines  in  use  in  each 
class  of  offices  for  the  years  1901,  1902,  and  I9O4:1 


1901 

1902 

1904 

Book  and  job  offices    

877 

081 

1678 

41  ^8 

48-u 

C4.QI 

The  requirements  of  the  newspaper  office  have  consequently 
been  an  important  factor  in  setting  the  length  of  the  working 
day  on  machines.  Prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  machine 
wages  for  hand  compositors  in  newspaper  offices  had  been 
almost  uniformly  on  a  piece  basis,  the  union  scale  regulating 
the  price  per  thousand  ems  set.  The  unions  required  the 

1  Compiled  from  returns  made  to  the  secretary  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union.  See  The  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  XVIII  (supplement);  ibid., 
Vol.  XXIV,  p.  212. 


264         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


publishers  to  give  employment  for  a  fixed  minimum  number  of 
hours  each  working  day.  The  maximum  working  day  had  never 
been  a  matter  of  concern  to  the  unions  so  far  as  newspaper 
offices  were  concerned.  The  stress  had  always  been  the  other 
way,  since  the  publishers  were  desirous  of  keeping  in  their 
employ  as  large  a  number  of  printers  as  possible  in  order  that 
any  sudden  strain  might  be  met.  The  printers,  with  many 
local  variations,  had  adopted  the  rule  that  six  or  seven  hours' 
work  must  be  furnished  each  day.  Allowing  for  time  spent  in 
distribution  of  type  and  in  pasting  up  "  dupes,"  the  usual  work- 
ing day  on  newspapers  was  rarely  less  than  ten  hours. 

Newspaper  publishers  always  need  the  largest  composing 
force  during  the  last  few  hours  before  the  paper  goes  to  press. 
In  a  peculiar  sense  it  is  true  in  newspaper  work  that  the  use- 
fulness of  a  workman  is  not  reduced  proportionately  with  a 
decrease  in  the  length  of  the  working  day.  The  cheapness  of 
machine  composition  made  it  possible  for  publishers  to  increase 
the  capacity  of  their  force  in  order  to  secure  a  much  desired 
increase  in  effectiveness  during  the  last  hours.  The  proposition 
of  the  union  for  an  eight-hour  day  on  machine  composition 
seems  for  this  reason  to  have  met  with  small  opposition  from 
the  employers. 

The  following  table  shows  the  length  of  the  working  week 
for  machine  operators  in  offices  controlled  by  the  Typographical 
Union,  according  to  scales  in  force  January  i,  I9O4:1 


Number  of  Hours  constituting 
a  Week's  Work 

Morning 
Newspaper 
Offices 

Evening 
Newspaper 
Offices 

Weekly 
Newspaper 
Offices 

Book  and 
Job 
Offices 

Total 

Unions  reporting  less  than  48 

hours 

48 

•?8 

j  i 

18 

IIC 

o° 

1  1  J 

Unions  reporting  48  hours     . 

266 

296 

199 

193 

934 

Unions  reporting  more  than 

48  and  less  than  54  hours 

15 

37 

38 

23 

"3 

Unions  reporting  54  hours     . 

53 

139 

93 

86 

37i 

Unions  reporting  more  than 

54  hours      .... 

i 

o 

o 

2 

1  Compiled  from  returns  made  to   the  secretary  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union.    See  The  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  211. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          265 

Of  1536  scales  for  operators  in  the  various  kinds  of  machine 
offices  68  per  cent  fix  forty-eight  hours  or  less  as  the  maxi- 
mum working  week.  The  proportion  of  operators  having  a 
forty-eight-hour  week  is  still  greater,  since  the  larger  unions 
usually  have  shorter  working  days  than  the  smaller  ones.  The 
relatively  large  number  of  scales  for  evening  newspaper  offices 
fixing  more  than  forty-eight  hours  as  the  maximum  working 
week  is  due  to  the  fact  that  many  small  towns  have  evening 
newspapers  and  no  morning  newspapers.  It  is  probable  that 
between  80  and  90  per  cent  of  the  union  machine  operators 
in  the  country  have  at  present  a  maximum  working  week  of 
forty-eight  hours  or  less.  In  the  larger  cities  the  length  of  the 
working  clay  is  usually  the  same  on  morning  and  evening  news- 
papers, while  it  is  somewhat  longer  on  weekly  newspapers  and 
in  book  and  job  offices.  The  other  printers  employed  in  the 
composing  rooms  of  the  newspaper  have  profited  by  the  reduc- 
tion in  the  hours  of  machine  compositors.  "Admen,"  "  floor- 
men,"  proof  readers,  and  hand  compositors  employed  in  machine 
offices  usually  enjoy  the  short  working  day  of  their  colaborers, 
the  operators,  who  have  set  the  hours  of  labor  for  the  entire 
composing  room. 

The  effect  of  the  machine  on  wages  is  difficult  to  estimate 
on  account  of  the  change  in  the  method  of  payment  from  the 
piece  to  the  time  system.  The  table  on  the  following  page 
gives  for  each  of  the  largest  ten  cities  in  the  United  States 
the  union  scale  for  hand  composition  in  1891  and  the  union 
scale  for  machine  operators  in  1904^ 

Assuming  that  a  hand  compositor  was  able  on  the  average 
to  set  1000  ems  per  hour,  the  wages  per  hour  of  machine 
operators  at  present  is  about  20  per  cent  higher  than  that  of 
hand  compositors  was  in  1891.  Since,  however,  the  hand  com- 
positor worked  ten  hours  as  against  the  operator's  eight,  the 
day  wages  for  the  two  kinds  of  work  do  not  differ  materially. 
A  simple  comparison  of  the  union  scales  for  the  two  classes  of 

1  This  table  is  compiled  from  reports  made  to  the  secretary  of  the  Inter- 
national Union.  See  Proceedings,  1892,  p.  204  et  seq.,  and  The  Typographical 
Journal,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  213  et  seq. 


266         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


Union  Scales  for 

Union  Scales  for 

£rt|w 

Wages  of 

Hand  Composition 

Machine  Operators 

J§  cW.S  <n 

Machine  Oper- 

per 1000  Ems,  1891 

per  Week,  1904 

ISJslI 

ators  per  Hour 

Day 

Night 

Day 

Night 

lilsl 

Day 

Night 

Work 

Work 

Work 

Work 

3  o?-*,O 
fe 

Work 

Work 

New  York    .     .     . 

4OC. 

50C. 

$24 

$27 

48 

5OC. 

56Jc. 

Chicago    .... 

41 

46 

24 

26.40 

48 

5° 

55 

Philadelphia      .     . 

40 

40 

2O 

25 

48 

4if 

52A 

St.  Louis.     .     .     . 

38 

43 

23.25 

26.10 

46 

5<>H 

56V| 

Boston     .... 

38 

45 

22.36 

24.36 

42 

53 

58" 

Baltimore 

40 

45 

21 

22.50 

42 

50 

53i 

Cleveland      .     .     . 

40 

43 

21 

24 

48 

43f 

5° 

Buffalo     .... 

33 

35 

19.50 

22.50 

42 

46? 

53* 

San  Francisco  .     . 

45 

5° 

27 

3° 

45 

60 

66} 

Cincinnati     .     .     . 

4i 

45 

22 

25 

48 

451 

52T-2- 

Average  .     .     . 

39-6 

44-2 

*' 

57 

workmen  neglects,  however,  an  important  consideration.  Under 
the  piece  system  few  employers  paid  any  of  their  workmen 
more  than  the  minimum  rate,  while  a  considerable  part  of 
the  machine  operators  in  all  the  cities  included  in  the  table 
get  more  than  the  scale.1  The  speedy  and  accurate  operator 
receives  a  differential  wage  over  the  slower  workman.2  Machine 
operators  in  these  cities,  therefore,  receive  somewhat  more  on  the 
average  for  eight  hours'  work  than  hand  compositors  did  at  the 
introduction  of  the  linotype  for  ten  hours'  work.  The  difference 
in  favor  of  the  operator  is  even  greater  in  the  smaller  cities. 

Regularity  of  employment  has  been  up  to  the  present  far 
greater  among  the  machine  operators  than  it  was  formerly 
among  the  hand  compositors  as  a  class.  The  constant  expan- 
sion in  the  demand  for  operators  has  kept  the  competent  work- 
men fully  employed.  The  "  learners'  scales "  have  been  so 

1  In  the  arbitration  proceedings  held  in  June,   1903,  to  determine  the  wage 
scale  for  machine  operators  in  New  York  City,  the  New  York  union  laid  stress 
on  the  fact  that  one  half  of  the  newspaper  operators  .in  that  city  received  more 
than  the  existing  scale. —  Arbitration  Proceedings,   Typographical   Union,  No,  6 
v.  New  York  Newspaper  Publishers  (MS.). 

2  In   Chicago   a  bonus  is  paid    all  operators  on  matter   set  beyond  a  fixed 
amount.    In  the  other  cities  the  differential  is  not  fixed  so  exactly,  but  works 
itself  out  by  individual  bargaining. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          267 

arranged  that  employers  train  new  operators  only  when  they 
are  needed.  The  machine,  moreover,  has  increased  indirectly 
but  materially  the  regularity  of  employment  for  all  printers 
through  its  effect  on  the  number  of  apprentices.  As  long  as 
straight  matter  was  set  by  hand  there  was  a  profit  to  the 
employer  in  having  apprentices,  since  within  a  comparatively 
short  time  they  became  proficient  enough  in  this  branch  of  the 
trade  to  more  than  repay  the  employer  for  the  low  wages  paid 
them.  The  result  was  that  the  number  of  apprentices  was  out 
of  proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  industry.  Largely  as  a  result 
of  the  overcrowding  in  the  trade  a  class  of  printers  came  into 
existence  who  were  known  as  "tramp  "  printers.  Drifting  here 
and  there  in  search  of  work,  many  of  them  acquired  dissolute 
habits.  Printers  holding  regular  situations  were  expected  to  share 
work  with  these  fellow-unionists,  and  in  many  cities  it  became 
the  custom  for  unmarried  newspaper  compositors  to  work  only 
two  or  three  days  each  week  during  periods  of  depression. 

The  first  convention  of  the  Journeymen  Printers  of  the 
United  States,  held  in  1850,  was  strongly  of  the  opinion  that 
"  too  many  printers  had  been  manufactured  of  late  years."  l 
The  local  printers'  unions  always  put  forward  as  one  of  their 
chief  aims  the  restriction  of  the  number  of  apprentices,  but 
achieved  only  a  very  partial  success.  The  introduction  of  the 
machine  has  appreciably  diminished  the  importance  of  the 
apprenticeship  question  to  the  printers.  Since  straight  com- 
position is  the  branch  of  the  work  to  which  the  machine  is  best 
suited,  the  profit  from  apprentices  has  sensibly  decreased,  and 
as  the  machine  extends  its  field  the  future  needs  of  the  busi- 
ness become  the  controlling  factor  in  the  regulation  of  the 
number  of  apprentices.  The  "tramp"  printer,  a  sign  of  an 
unhealthy  trade  condition,  has  almost  disappeared  and  confines 
his  operations  to  the  smaller  towns  in  which  hand  composition 
still  maintains  its  hold. 

Besides  the  length  of  the  working  day,  the  rate  of  pay,  and 
regularity  of  employment,  one  other  factor  in  the  conditions 

1  Proceedings  of  the  National  Convention  of  Journeymen  Printers  of  the 
United  States,  New  York,  December  2,  1850  (Philadelphia,  1851). 


268         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  work  is  worthy  of  attention  in  every  trade,  —  the  intensity  of 
labor  required.  Linotype  operators  are  universally  agreed  that 
the  high  speed  attained  on  the  machines  makes  the  work  far 
more  exhausting  than  hand  composition.  The  International 
Typographical  Union  has  at  times  gone  close  to  limitation  of 
output  in  its  desire  to  keep  the  speed  required  within  what  the 
union  considers  reasonable  limits.  At  the  forty-first  annual 
session  it  was  enacted  that  "  no  member  .  .  .  shall  be  allowed 
to  accept  work  .  .  .  where  a  task,  stint,  or  dead  line  is  imposed 
by  the  employer  on  operators  of  typesetting  devices."  l  The 
same  session  prohibited  operators  from  accepting  a  "  bonus 
per  thousand  above  the  regular  scale." 2  The  fear  that  the 
employers  would  raise  the  required  amount  so  high  as  to  make 
the  work  a  very  heavy  strain  or  that  through  the  incentive  of 
a  bonus  the  standard  would  be  put  up  by  especially  skillful 
operators  to  a  point  difficult  of  attainment  led  to  the  enact- 
ment of  these  laws. 

The  prohibition  on  the  payment  of  bonus  was  repealed  in 
i894,3  but  the  sentiment  against  this  form  of  wages  remained 
very  strong,  and  in  1902  it  was  enacted  that  no  bonus  should 
be  accepted  by  machine  operators  where  "such  bonus  is  vol- 
untary on  the  part  of  the  employer  and  is  not  provided  for  in 
the  scale  of  prices."4  The  session  of  1902  went  much  farther 
than  any  of  its  predecessors  and  recommended  "  that  subordi- 
nate unions  establish  a  stated  amount  of  machine  composition 
which  is  considered  a  fair  day's  work." 5  The  laws  of  the 
Typographical  Union,  if  they  had  been  literally  enforced  as 
they  stood  in  1902,  denied  the  employer  the  right  to  place  any 
definite  stint,  but  gave  the  union  the  right  to  do  the  very 
thing  prohibited  to  employers.  Despite  the  prohibition  against 
employers  fixing  the  accomplishment  of  a  certain  amount  of 
work  as  a  condition  of  employment,  this  was  done  in  nearly  all 
newspaper  offices,  and  in  1903  the  Typographical  Union  repealed 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-First  Annual  Session  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  p.  200.  *  Ibid,,  p.  201.  3  Ibid.,  p.  38. 

4  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Eighth  Session  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union,  p.  141.  5  /^  p<  I42> 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          269 

its  prohibition.1  The  same  session  struck  out  the  section 
recommending  the  "  establishment  by  the  local  unions  of  a 
fair  day's  work."2  The  rule  against  the  acceptance  of  bonus 
except  when  paid  according  to  the  union  scale  is  the  only 
remaining  law  of  this  kind,  except  a  provision  that  "  members 
shall  not  engage  in  speed  contests." 3  The  purpose  of  this 
unique  prohibition  is  to  prevent  exaggerated  ideas  arising  of 
the  amount  proper  for  an  operator  to  perform. 

Such  rules  as  those  described  have  seemingly  been  entirely 
ineffective  in  checking  the  increase  in  the  speed  of  operators. 
Occasionally  a  local  union  has  sheltered  an  unreasonable  de- 
mand behind  such  rules,  but  in  the  main  the  speed  of  the 
operator  has  been  determined  only  by  his  ability.  The  large 
number  of  operators  receiving  more  than  the  minimum  wage 
scale  indicates  that  as  a  class  their  output  is  not  arbitrarily 
limited.  A  large  part  of  the  supporters  of  the  legislation 
described  desire  to  secure  by  this  means  employment  for  opera- 
tors who  are  not  able  to  reach  the  standard  set.  The  constant 
increase  in  the  speed  of  the  operator  has  made  the  old  provi- 
sions for  learning  the  machine  inadequate.  The  proper  remedy 
is  for  the  unions  and  employers  to  revise  the  "  learners'  scales  " 
to  conform  to  existing  conditions. 

The  success  of  the  International  Typographical  Union  in 
enforcing  the  rule  that  printers  shall  be  employed  as  linotype 
operators  has  been  frequently  attributed  solely  to  the  strength 
of  that  organization.  In  his  testimony  before  the  Industrial 
Commission  Mr.  Gompers,  president  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  said  :  "  The  printers  have  had  a  remarkable 
history,  particularly  within  the  last  five  years.  The  machine 
.  .  .  was  introduced  and  it  is  one  of  the  cases  where  a  new 
machine  revolutionizing  a  whole  trade  was  introduced  without 
involving  a  wholesale  disaster  even  for  a  time,  and  it  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  International  Typographical  Union  has 
grown  to  be  an  organized  factor,  recognized  by  those  employing 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Forty-Eighth  Session  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union,  p.  123.  2  Ibid.,  p.  136. 

8  International  Typographical  Book  of  Laws,  1903,  General  Laws,  section  69. 


270        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

printers  as  a  factor  to  be  considered."1  A  more  explicit  state- 
ment of  the  same  view  was  made  before  the  commission  by 
Mr.  D.  F.  Kennedy,  an  organizer  of  the  Federation  of  Labor  for 
Indiana.  He  said,  "  These  [typecasting]  machines  would  now 
be  run  by  typewriters,  not  typesetters,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  union  taking  possession  of  the  situation  to  that  extent  that 
they  compelled  them  to  use  typesetters  to  run  the  machine."2 

If  a  union  can  force  in  every  period  of  machine  introduction 
the  preferential  employment  of  its  members  on  the  new  devices, 
one  solution  of  the  much  discussed  problem  of  the  displaced 
workman  is  offered.  The  introduction  of  machinery  frequently 
leads  to  the  employment  of  less  highly  trained  and  less  skillful 
workmen;  in  many  cases  to  the  replacing  of  skilled  artisans 
with  poorly  paid  women  and  children  operatives.  The  printers 
require  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years  before  the  workman  is 
permitted  to  operate  the  linotype.  How  far  is  it  true  that  the 
Typographical  Union  by  sheer  force  of  combination  has  been 
able  to  force  the  employment  of  highly  paid  workmen  to  per- 
form work  which  might  be  done  by  a  much  cheaper  class  of 
laborers  ?  On  the  answer  to  this  question  depends  the  decision 
as  to  the  possibility  of  similar  combinations  of  workmen  in 
other  trades  utilizing  the  experience  of  the  printers  on  these 
occasions  when  fundamental  -reconstructions  of  their  trade 
are  in  progress.  A  policy  which  requires  the  employment  of 
skilled  workmen  for  work  easily  within  the  power  of  less  skill- 
ful employees  would  be  clearly  uneconomic,  and  its  continued 
enforcement  would  be  against  great  economic  pressure. 

The  International  Typographical  Union  undoubtedly  occu- 
pied an  advantageous  strategic  position  in  the  introduction  of 
the  machine.  Its  chief  strength  for  many  years  had  consisted 
in  the  control  of  the  greater  part  of  the  larger  newspaper 
offices.  It  is  entirely  probable  that  the  union  did  secure  the 
control  of  the  machine  in  some  of  these  offices  because  the 
publishers  feared  the  boycott,  which  is  peculiarly  effective 
against  newspapers.  A  second  advantage  possessed  by  the 

1  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  VII,  p.  615. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  VII,  p.  748. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE          271 

union  lay  in  the  fact  that,  as  the  machine  was  introduced  in  the 
smaller  newspaper  and  job  offices,  the  supply  of  expert  workmen 
trained  in  the  offices  of  the  large  union  newspapers  furnished 
a  ready  labor  market  for  the  employers  installing  linotypes. 

Several  facts  point,  however,  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
policy  of  the  printers  has  succeeded  not  simply  through  the 
power  of  combination.  In  the  early  years  of  the  introduction  of 
the  linotype  much  was  said  about  the  possibility  of  operating 
machines  with  unskilled  labor.1  The  experiment  was  tried  in 
several  cities,  but  with  such  small  success  that  employers  have 
abandoned  the  attempt  to  recruit  their  linotype  operators  from 
this  class  of  labor.  Nonunion  offices  with  substantial  uniformity 
employ  printers  as  machine  operators.  The  union  rules  do  not 
bind  these  employers  and  their  policy  is  dictated  by  economic 
interest.  The  same  practice  prevails  in  all  other  countries 
where  the  linotype  is  in  use.2  No  tendency  to  replace  male 
with  female  labor  has  ever  appeared.  The  proportion  of  female 
to  male  operators  is  smaller  than  the  proportion  of  female 
to  male  hand  compositors.  In  January,  1904,  the  number  of 
women  operating  typesetting  and  typecasting  machines  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  was  520,  about  5  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  linotype  operators.3  The  number  of  women 
engaged  in  the  United  States  in  1900  as  printers  and  compos- 
itors was  1 5, 875, 4  about  15  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of 
printers  and  compositors. 

A  trade-union  rule  without  economic  justification  would 
probably  have  won  its  chief  success  at  the  outset.  The  returns 
made  to  the  officers  of  the  Typographical  Union  show  that  so 
far  from  the  union  losing  control  of  the  machine  the  propor- 
tion of  union  to  nonunion  operators  is  increasing.  The  following 

1  The  printers  were  profoundly  affected  by  the  fear  that  they  would  be  sup- 
planted by  a  cheaper  class   of  labor.    The  continuance  of  the   restriction   on 
apprentices  working  the  machine  is  due  to  the  persistence  of  this  fear.    See 
above,  p.  258  and  p.  267. 

2  See  Webb,  Industrial  Democracy,  p.  407 ;  Radiguer,  Maitres  Imprimeurs  et 
Ouvriers  Typographes,  p.  482. 

8  The  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  212. 

4  Twelfth  Census  of  the  United  States,  Population,  Part  II,  p.  507. 


272         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


table  shows  by  years  the  percentage  of  union  operators  and 
machine  tenders.1  At  the  present  time  92 1  per  cent  of  all 
machine  employees  according  to  these  returns  are  members  of 
the  union.2  In  no  other  branch  of  the  trade  does  the  union 
control  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  workmen. 


Percentage  of  Total  Number 

1901 

1902 

1904 

Male  machine  operators  ... 

92 
63 

86 

TOO 

92 
56 
89 
90 

94i 
62! 

95 
93 

Female  machine  operators 

Machine  tenders 

Operator  machinists 

A  consideration  of  the  technical  character  of  the  linotype 
confirms  the  conclusion  that  it  differs  from  many  machines  in 
requiring  for  its  most  profitable  operation  the  skill  of  the  super- 
seded handicraftsman.  The  amount  produced  on  a  linotype  is 
directly  proportional  to  the  skill  of  the  operator,  while  the  great 
mass  of  labor-saving  inventions  reduce  the  work  of  the  laborer 
to  that  of  tending  the  machine.  Every  part  of  the  hand  com- 
positor's knowledge  is  useful  to  the  machine  operator,  except 
an  acquaintance  with  the  location  of  the  case  boxes,  and  instead 
the  operator  must  learn  the  keyboard  of  the  machine.  In  addi- 
tion the  operator  must  think  far  more  quickly.  He  must  not 
only  know  the  same  things,  but  he  must  be  able  to  use  knowledge 
more  rapidly.3 

The  real  merit  of  the  policy  of  the  Typographical  Union  was 
that  it  secured  for  its  members  an  opportunity  to  show  to  the 

1  Compiled  from    The   Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  XVIII,  No.    n    (supple- 
ment) ;  ibid.,  Vol.  XXIV,  No.  2,  p.  212. 

2  The  census  made  by  the  union  officials  omits  more  nonunionists  than  union- 
ists, but  the  conclusion  as  to  the  tendency  is  not  weakened  by  such  omissions. 

8  The  present  linotype  operators  were  trained  at  hand  composition.  As  this 
method  of  production  falls  more  and  more  into  disuse,  it  is  a  grave  question 
whether  apprenticeship  in  a  printing  office  will  form  a  sufficient  training  for  the 
operators.  The  knowledge  of  spelling,  punctuation,  and  capitalization  which  the 
apprentice  gets  from  hand  composition  will  probably  have  to  be  obtained  in  trade 
schools,  or  the  apprentices  intended  for  linotype  operators  will  be  recruited  from 
a  better  educated  class  of  boys.  For  some  time,  however,  this  will  not  be  an 
urgent  question. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  LINOTYPE 


273 


employer  that  the  union  printer  was  more  profitable  than  the 
unskilled  workman  as  a  machine  operator.  This  policy  required 
the  frank  recognition  of  the  machine,  its  honest  working,  and 
fair  concessions  to  employers  during  the  period  of  machine 
apprenticeship. 


GEORGE  E.  BARNETT. 


JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY. 


[Following  is  the  statistical  table  compiled  by  the  secretary  of  the  union  for  the 
year  beginning  January,  1904,  and  referred  to  on  pages  271  and  272  preceding. 
It  will  be  noted  that  the  number  of  female  machine  operators  (omitting  machine 
tenders  and  operator  machinists)  in  nonunion  offices  (195)  is  about  28  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  nonunion  operators  (714),  but  the  number  of  female  opera- 
tors in  union  offices  (325)  is  less  than  4  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  union 
operators  (8851).  —  ED.] 


Class  of  Employees 

Union 

Nonunion 

Total 

Per  Cent 
Union 

Male  machine  operators    ........ 

8526 

5*9 

9°4S 

94i 

325 

fei 

CQ6 

627 

Operator  machinists      

97° 

69 

1039 

93 

Total 

814 

02? 

XI 

THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR1 

Broadly  speaking  there  are  two  methods  of  paying  for  labor 
in  common  use.  Under  the  first  method  payment  is  made  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  time  consumed  in  doing  the  work, 
while  under  the  second  payment  is  made  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  work  done.  In  the  vernacular  of  the  shop  these  are 
called  respectively  the  days-work  and  the  piecework  plans. 

A  third  plan  deserves  attention,  not  because  of  its  connec- 
tion with  the  subject  but  because  of  its  intrinsic  importance. 
It  is  in  a  sense  a  combination  of  those  named  and,  measured 
by  the  extent  of  its  use,  it  is  next  to  them  in  importance. 
I  refer  to  the  New  England  Contract  Plan  under  which  certain 
leading  men,  who  are  called  sometimes  foremen  and  some- 
times contractors,  are  given  contracts  for  doing  certain  work. 
The  shop  and  its  facilities  are  the  property  of  the  employer, 
but  the  contractors  proceed  much  as  though  the  shop  was  their 
own.  They  engage  the  help  and  arrange  their  rates  of  pay, 
this  pay  being  by  the  day,  the  men  as  a  whole  having  no  interest 
in  the  contracts.  The  contractors  are  not  capitalists  and  do  not 
furnish  the  capital  or  pay  their  men,  who  are  paid  by  the 
employer  precisely  as  though  there  were  no  contract  plan  in 
the  shop,  but  the  wages  as  paid  are  charged  against  the  various 
contracts,  and  as  the  work  is  turned  in  the  contractors  are  paid 
the  difference  between  the  contract  price  and  the  wages  paid  out. 

There  is  no  question  that  this  plan  has  had  a  large  influence 
on  the  development  of  the  metal-working  industries  of  New 
England.  It  has,  moreover,  extended  far  beyond  the  confines 

1  From  the  Sib  ley  Journal  of  Mechanical  Engineering,  Vol.  XVI,  March,  1902. 
On  this  and  related  subjects  see  also  Schloss,  Industrial  Remuneration,  3d 
edition,  1898. 

274 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR     275 

of  New  England.  Some  very  large  works  —  among  them  the 
Baldwin  Locomotive  Works — operate  on  this  plan. 

Inquiry  regarding  this  plan  will  frequently  be  baffled  by  its 
contradictory  aspects  to  the  different  parties.  To  the  employer 
it  is  piecework,  as  he  ultimately  pays  for  the  work  by  the 
piece,  and  he  will  frequently  call  it  by  that  name.  To  the 
workman,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  simple  day's  work,  with 
the  addition  of  an  unusually  energetic  and  lynx-eyed  foreman. 
Except  as  he  learns  it  accidentally,  he  need  not  even  know 
that  the  shop  is  at  bottom  a  piecework  shop,  as  his  own  rate 
of  pay,  as  well  as  that  of  his  associates,  is  exclusively  by  the  day. 

The  day's-work  and  piecework  plans  are  in  their  leading 
faults  antithetical.  From  the  nature  of  the  day's-work  plan 
the  workman  has  no  direct  share  in  any  increased  production 
which  he  may  bring  about  by  more  intelligent  or  increased 
exertion,  the  benefits  of  such  increase  going  wholly  to  the 
employer.  The  only  inducement  the  workman  has  toward 
increased  effort  is  the  hope  that  through  it  he  may  eventually 
obtain  a  slight  increase  in  his  daily  wages. 

From  the  nature  of  the  piecework  plan,  on  the  contrary,  the 
employer  has  no  direct  share  in  any  increased  production  which 
the  workman  may  bring  about  by  more  intelligent  or  increased 
exertion.  He  has  the  indirect  benefit  due  to  the  increased  pro- 
duction from  a  given  plant,  but  the  wages  cost  remains  the  same 
regardless  of  the  production. 

I  have  spoken  of  these  features  of  the  two  plans  as  their 
chief  faults,  and  they  are  such  because  through  them  and  in 
consequence  of  them  community  of  interest  between  employer 
and  employee  in  the  reduction  of  costs  is  impossible.  Neither 
offers  any  basis  for  such  a  community  of  interest,  and  it  is  this 
which  it  is  the  prime  object  of  the  premium  plan  to  supply. 
The  piecework  plan  has  upon  its  face  the  appearance  of  equity 
and  fair  dealing.  "  It  pays  for  the  work  done  and  in  proportion 
to  what  is  done.  The  industrious  are  rewarded  in  accordance 
with  their  industry,"  etc.,  etc.  The  universal  opposition  of 
labor  unions  to  it  is  looked  upon  as  another  evidence  of  their 
total  depravity.  Of  course,  in  so  far  as  the  objections  of  the 


276         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

unions  are  a  reflection  of  the  opposition  which  some  of  them 
have  to  their  members  doing  a  large  amount  of  work  it  cannot 
be  defended  and  is  not  worth  discussion,  but  for  other  reasons 
and  on  other  grounds  their  position  of  opposition  is  impreg- 
nable. Near  acquaintance  with  the  system  shows  that  it  is  not 
what  it  appears  to  be.  It  is  in  fact  a  remarkable  illustration 
of  how  completely  a  thing  may  differ  in  appearance  from  what 
it  is  in  reality.  It  is  in  appearance  a  system  of  rewards,  but 
it  is  in  fact  a  system  of  punishments,  and  worse  still  a  system 
of  punishments  for  doing  well. 

As  this  is  a  severe  arraignment  it  requires  an  examination  of 
the  actual  workings  of  the  system.  A  piece  of  work  has  been 
done  by  day's  work  and  it  is  proposed  to  change  it  to  piece- 
work. The  piece  cost J  under  day's  work  is  first  determined 
and  a  somewhat  smaller  piece  price  is  then  set  and  given  to  the 
workman.  If  he  has  had  no  experience  with  piecework,  he  feels 
that  he  cannot  "make  wages"  and  objects.  He  is  then  told 
that  if  he  will  not  take  it  some  one  else  will ;  in  other  words, 
he  is  compelled  to  take  it,  and  this  is  the  first  objection  to  the 
plan,  —  it  involves  compulsion.  If  this  were  all  that  could  be 
said  against  the  system,  it  would  not  have  much  weight,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  worth  noting.  Leading  is  always  better  than 
driving,  and  compulsion  is  a  good  thing  to  avoid  if  possible. 

No  man  knows  what  he  can  do  under  an  incentive  until  he 
has  tried  it.  The  workman  in  saying  that  he  cannot  "  make 
wages "  at  the  piece  prices  offered  when  piecework  is  first 
introduced  is  entirely  sincere,  but  he  is  nevertheless  mistaken. 
All  experience  shows  that  when  the  test  comes  the  increase  of 
output  under  the  incentive  of  piece  rates  is  far  beyond  what 
any  one  —  manager  or  workman — would  have  believed  possible. 
The  output  mounts  up  and  the  wages  with  it,  and  the  employer 
soon  finds  that  he  is  paying  an  extravagant  rate  of  daily  wages, 
an  extravagant  rate  being  understood  as  a  rate  materially  in 
excess  of  what  it  would  be  necessary  to  pay  another  workman 
for  doing  the  same  work,  he  having  the  first  man's  experience 

1  The  actual  wages  paid  for  doing  the  work,  or  the  "  wages  cost "  only,  is 
considered  here. 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR     277 

before  him.  The  employer  submits  to  this  for  a  time,  but  the 
wages  continue  to  increase  and  ultimately  he  is  driven  to  his 
only  recourse, — he  cuts  the  piece  price.  This  is  an  immediate 
announcement  to  the  workman  that  the  promises  of  piecework 
are  false.  He  was  told  that  he  would  be  paid  a  certain  rate  per 
piece,  but  he  finds  that  to  be  true  up  to  a  certain  limit  only. 
The  workman,  again  under  compulsion,  accepts  the  new  price, 
but  unless  he  is  very  dull  he  has  learned  a  lesson.  If  he  is 
very  dull,  it  may  require  a  second  cut  to  enforce  this  lesson, 
and  this  second  cut,  either  on  the  price  of  his  own  work  or  on 
that  of  some  fellow-workman,  is  soon  forthcoming.  The  lesson 
is  that  if  he  pushes  his  production  to  a  point  which  raises  his 
earnings  beyond  a  certain  more  or  less  clearly  defined  limit  the 
direct  result  will  be  a  cut  in  the  piece  price.  Perhaps  new  men 
come  in  or  the  old  ones  are  given  new  work  to  do,  —  the  result 
is  the  same.  If  any  one  is  so  unwise  or  so  unfortunate  as  to  do 
a  large  amount,  he  is  at  once  punished  for  it  by  having  his  rate 
cut.  Such  cuts  from  the  workman's  standpoint  have  but  one 
result,  —  he  is  compelled  to  work  harder  than  before,  but  he 
earns  no  more.  This  is  the  result  of  his  own  efforts  to  increase 
his  output,  and  hence  it  is  that  I  call  the  piecework  system  a 
system  of  punishment  for  doing  well. 

The  net  result  of  the  system  is  a  somewhat  greater  output 
and  somewhat  higher  wages  than  would  be  obtained  with  the 
day's-work  system,  but  there  is  no  spirit  of  progress.  The  work- 
men,push  their  earnings  as  near  to  the  limit  as  they  dare  and 
then  stop  making  further  effort  to  increase  their  output.  If  one 
man  has  several  pieces  of  work,  on  some  of  which  the  prices  are 
high  while  on  others  they  are  low,  he  makes  out  false  time 
tickets,  charging  time  to  one  job  which  belongs  to  another,  so 
as  to  equalize  matters  and  give  a  fair  average  and  thus  take 
advantage  of  the  high  rates  on  some  pieces  to  equalize  the  low 
rates  on  others.  The  whole  tendency  is  to  cultivate  deceit  and 
antagonism.  The  piecework  plan  is,  in  short,  simply  a  mischief- 
maker  and  a  discord  breeder. 

The  workman  of  course  looks  upon  these  cuts  as  an  exhibi- 
tion of  pure  hoggishness  on  the  part  of  the  employer.  While 


278         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  employer  may  take  undue  advantage  in  this  way,  the  fact 
remains  that  if  he  does  not  make  the  cuts  from  choice  he  will 
eventually  do  it  from  necessity,  for  it  can  be  shown  that  these 
cuts  are  an  integral  part  of  the  piecework  plan,  which  can  no 
more  be  operated  without  them  than  a  windmill  can  be  oper- 
ated without  wind,  for  the  reason  that  as  the  years  go  by  the 
whole  tendency  of  prices  is  downward.  .  .  . 

The  day's-work  and  piecework  plans  are,  as  has  been  shown, 
antithetical  in  their  faults,  and  the  premium  plan  is  an  effort  to 
obviate  these  faults  by  splitting  the  difference  between  them, 
to  speak.  By  this  is  meant  that  whereas  with  the  day's- 
work  plan  the  immediate  gains  due  to  increased  effort  by  a 
workman  go  to  the  employer,  while  with  the  piecework  plan 
they  go  to  the  workman,  with  the  premium  plan  they  are 
divided  between  the  workman  and  his  employer,  and  this  is  the 
essence  and  substance  of  it. 

To  understand  this  suppose  that  a  piece  of  work  has  been 
done  upon  the  day's-work  plan  and  that  it  is  proposed  to  change 
it  to  the  premium  plan.  The  time  which  it  has  required  is  deter- 
mined, and  the  workman,  who  is  still  paid  the  old  day  rate,  is 
told  that  if  he  will  reduce  that  time  he  will,  in  addition  to  his 
daily  wages,  be  paid  a  premium  for  each  hour  or  part  of  an  hour 
by  which  he  reduces  the  time,  this  premium  per  hour  being 
less  than  his  hourly  rate  of  wages.  Please  note  this,  as  it  is  by 
this  device  that  the  division  of  the  gains  is  made.  If  he  objects, 
he  is  simply  told,  "  Very  well,  try  or  not  as  you  think  best ; 
there  is  the  work  and  the  offer,  and  the  premium  is  ready  when- 
ever you  have  earned  it."  In  other  words,  the  proposition  is 
simply  an  offer  of  a  reward  for  an  increase  in  output  without  a 
trace  of  anything  in  the  nature  of  compulsion.  It  is  of  course 
expected  and  usually  found  that  with  this  reward  before  him 
the  workman  will  sooner  or  later  endeavor  to  increase  and 
succeed  in  increasing  his  output.  .  .  . 

To  gather  the  exact  workings  of  the  plan  assume  a  concrete 
case.  A  workman  is  paid  say  $3  per  day  and  produces  one 
piece  of  a  kind  per  day,  that  is,  in  ten  hours.  He  is  told  that 
he  will  continue  to  be  paid  his  $3  a  day  as  before,  but  that  if 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR 


279 


he  will  reduce  the  time  on  the  piece  he  will  be  paid  in  addition 
to  his  wages  a  premium  of  10  cents  for  each  hour  saved.  If  he 
reduces  the  time  by  an  hour,  that  hour  represents  in  money  value 
a  gross  saving  of  30  cents.  Ten  cents  of  this  amount  is  paid 
to  him  as  a  premium,  leaving  the  remaining  20  cents  in  the 
employer's  possession,  this  sum  making  itself  manifest  in  the 
reduced  cost  of  the  work.  If  the  workman  goes  on  redu- 
cing the  time  in  which  the  piece  is  made,  the  same  process  is 
repeated,  each  hour  saved  resulting  in  an  increase  in  the  work- 
man's wages  of  10  cents  and  in  a  reduced  cost  of  the  piece  of 
20  cents.  In  other  words,  the  wages  go  up  and  the  costs  go 
down  simultaneously,  this  apparently  paradoxical  result  coming 
about  from  the  fact  that  the  gross  time  saved  is  divided  between 
employer  and  employee,  part  of  it  going  to  increase  the  wages 
of  the  latter  and  the  remainder  going  to  reduce  the  cost  to  the 
former.  This  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  table,  which,  for 
purposes  of  illustration,  is  extended  until  the  workman  has 
doubled  his  output,  in  which  case  the  wages  cost  of  the  work 
has  gone  down  from  $3  to  $2,  while  the  workman's  earnings  per 
day  have  advanced  from  $3  to  $4. 

THE  WORKINGS  OF  THE  PREMIUM  PLAN 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Time 
consumed 

Wages  per 
Piece 

Premium 

Total  Cost  of 
Work=  Column  2 
+  Column  3 

Workman's  Earnings 
per  Hour=  Column  4 
4-  Column  i 

10  hours 

9      " 
8      « 

$3-°° 

2.70 
2.40 

$0.00 
.10 

.20 

$3-00 
.         2.80 
2.60 

$0.30 

•3" 
.325 

7      " 
6      « 

2.10 

1.  80 

•30 
.40 

2.40 
2.2O 

•343 
.366 

5      " 

I.50 

•50 

2.00 

.40 

There  is  of  course  a  considerable  gain  to  the  employer  due 
to  the  increased  production  from  a  given  plant,  since  the 
secondary  costs  of  production  — the  expense  items  which  make 
up  the  burden  and  which  must  be  added  to  the  cost  of  labor 
and  material  in  order  to  obtain  the  ultimate  or  true  cost  —  are 


28o        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

increased  but  little  in  consequence  of  the  intensified  production. 
It  is,  however,  easy  and  customary  to  exaggerate  the  employer's 
gains  from  the  system,  a  subject  that  will  be  discussed  more 
fully  further  on. 

It  will  be  seen  that  superficially  the  plan  has  some  resem- 
blance to  the  profit-sharing  plan.  The  chief  difference  is  that 
whereas  the  profit-sharing  plan  treats  the  business  as  a  whole 
and  the  workmen  in  a  body,  the  premium  plan  treats  each  indi- 
vidual and  his  work  separately.  Under  the  profit-sharing  plan 
the  gross  profits  at  the  end  of  the  year  are  determined  and 
a  certain  percentage  of  these  is  divided  among  the  workmen 
regardless  of  individual  merit,  whereas  under  the  premium  plan 
each  workman's  earnings  depend  solely  upon  his  own  efforts.  .  .  . 

As  outlined  above  the  premium  plan  is  a  very  simple  thing, 
an  almost  absurdly  simple  thing,  and  it  would  seem  to  be  so  obvi- 
ously correct  in  principle  as  to  be  accepted  without  question. 
It  has,  however,  required  much  time  and  effort  to  get  it  tried. 
It  is  now  being  tried,  however,  on  a  scale  which  will  determine 
its  merits  and  insure  its  permanency,  if  it  is  really  what  it 
appears  to  be.  No  very  exact  idea  of  the  extent  of  this  trial 
can  be  given,  as  interested  parties  who  at  first  came  to  me  for 
information  and  suggestions  now  go  to  their  friends.  It  is 
known  to  be  in  use  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  England, 
Scotland,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Belgium.  Interest  has  been  shown 
in  Sweden  and  Austria,  but  it  is  not  known  to  me  whether  the 
plan  is  in  use  there.  It  has  apparently  attracted  more  intelligent 
and  serious  attention  in  Great  Britain  than  here  or  elsewhere, 
—  a  fact  which  may  perhaps  be  due  to  the  considerable  feeling 
there  that  British  industrial  methods  need  improvement.  .  .  . 

The  first  question  to  be  decided  after  the  adoption  of  the 
plan  has  been  determined  upon  is  the  rate  of  the  premium, 
that  is,  what  proportion  of  the  value  of  the  time  saved  is  to  be 
given  to  the  workman  who  saved  it. 

For  this  there  is  a  perfectly  clear  principle  to  guide  us  and 
that  principle  is  precisely  the  one  which  we  use  in  buying  any- 
thing whatever  with  money,  namely,  to  pay  what  is  necessary  to 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR      281 

get  what  is  wanted  but  to  pay  no  more.  If  we  have  a  fence  to 
paint  or  a  roof  to  shingle,  the  only  principle  we  ever  think  of 
following  in  order  to  get  the  work  done  is  to  pay  enough  to 
induce  some  one  to  do  it.  If  we  offer  less  than  that,  the  work 
will  go  undone,  while  if  we  pay  more  the  surplus  is  a  simple 
gratuity.  So  here.  A  workman  has  been  working  at  the  usual 
pace  and  has  been  paid  the  usual  daily  wages.  If  we  wish  to 
induce  him  to  do  more,  we  should  offer  enough,  but  no  more, 
as  a  premium  to  induce  him  to  make  the  extra  exertion.  If  we 
offer  too  little,  he  will  reject  the  offer,  the  offered  returns  being 
too  small  to  recompense  him  for  the  effort,  and  the  desired 
increase  will  not  be  obtained.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  offer 
too  much,  the  surplus,  as  in  the  case  of  painting  the  fence  or 
shingling  the  roof,  is  a  simple  gratuity. 

Looked  at  from  this  standpoint  it  is  clear  that  there  can  be. 
no  single  rate  of  payment  which  will  apply  to  all  classes  of 
work.  In  the  machine  shop,  for  example,  increased  output  is 
largely  a  matter  of  intelligence.  The  workman  uses  coarser 
feeds,  higher  speeds,  and  deeper  cuts.  He  has  several  tools  at 
hand  and  grinds  one  while  another  is  at  work  so  that  as  soon 
as  one  is  dull  another  may  be  slipped  into  its  place  without 
loss  of  time.  In  other  words,  he  crowds  the  machine  rather 
than  himself.  In  the  blacksmith  shop  or  foundry,  however, 
increased  output  can  be  secured  only  by  actual  increased  mus- 
cular effort  by  the  workman.  It  is  clear  that  in  the  first  instance 
a  smaller  premium  will  suffice  than  in  the  others. 

I  have  always  considered  this  feature  of  the  plan,  whereby 
the  incentive  can  be  graded  according  as  the  work  is  laborious 
or  not,  to  be  one  of  its  best  features,  though  it  has  attracted 
less  attention  than  it  deserves. 

Looking  at  the  premiums  when  settled  in  accordance  with 
this  simple  principle  of  paying  what  is  necessary  but  no  more, 
we  learn  several  things,  of  which  the  first  is  that  they  are  in  no 
sense  bonuses  or  gratuities,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  are, 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  earnings.  .  .  .  We  learn, 
secondly,  that  they  do  not  need  to  be  cut  from  time  to  time, 
,but  that  so  long  as  the  methods  of  production  do  not  change 


282         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  rates  may  be  permanent.  The  plan  contemplates  increasing 
the  workman's  earnings  as  a  reward  for  increased  effort  by  him- 
self. Should  the  proprietor  introduce  a  new  labor-saving  machine, 
it  would  be  economically  wrong  to  continue  the  old  rates,  since 
the  increased  output  of  the  new  machine  is  not  the  result  of  the 
workman's  efforts.  Under  such  circumstances  a  new  base  time 
must  be  determined  and  the  premiums  be  based  on  that. 

If  the  rates  have  been  settled  in  accordance  with  this  prin- 
ciple, there  need,  however,  be  no  change  in  them  so  long  as  the 
methods  of  production  remain  the  same,  and  indeed  there  must 
not  be.  Such  cuts  would  introduce  the  objections  of  piecework 
and  destroy  the  workman's  confidence  in  the  system  and  with 
it  his  incentive  to  further  effort.  To  cut  the  rates  is  to  kill  the 
goose  that  lays  the  golden  egg.  It  is  essential  that  the  limit 
to  the  workman's  earnings  shall  be  set  by  his  own  capacity  to 
produce  and  not,  as  with  piecework,  by  an  arbitrary  ruling  of 
the  office. 

It  has  often  been  objected  that  the  proprietor  may  cut  the 
rates  if  he  chooses,  and  that  after  all  the  plan  still  has  the  same 
fundamental  objection  as  piecework.  True,  the  plan  does  not 
make  rate  cutting  impossible,  but  it  does  make  it  unnecessary 
and  unprofitable.  Smaller  initial  rates  than  those  determined 
by  this  principle  would  have  been  less  profitable  to  the  employer, 
and  to  cut  them  when  once  set  would  not  only  lead  to  less  prof- 
itable rates,  but  it  would  stop  further  progress  by  destroying 
the  workman's  confidence.  Under  this  plan  it  is  to  the  em- 
ployer's interest  not  to  cut,  while,  as  has  been  shown,  under 
piecework  such  cuts  are  sooner  or  later  forced  upon  him. 

With  the  rates  set  in  this  manner  we  see,  thirdly,  that  with 
a  single  limitation  we  have  secured  an  ideal  economic  condition, 
a  condition  under  which  and  under  given  methods  of  produc- 
tion we  will  obtain  the  highest  possible  production  and  the 
lowest  possible  cost,  while  the  workman  will  receive  the  highest 
wages  to  which  he  is  economically  entitled.  In  other  words,  we 
will  secure  the  maximum  possible  efficiency  of  plant.  .  .  . 

Considering  the  premiums  as  set  in  this  way  and  considering 
also  the  rates  which  experience  shows  to  be  sufficient,  we  learn, 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR     283 

fourthly,  the  fundamental  defect  of  piecework,  —  its  initial  in- 
centive is  too  high;  that  is,  it  offers  a  reward  for  increasing  the 
output  which  is  larger  than  is  necessary  to  produce  that  increase 
and  larger  than  it  is  economically  possible  for  the  employer  to 
continue  to  pay.  It  is  from  this  defect  that  all  the  difficulties 
with  piecework  spring.  Cutting  the  rates  is  a  clumsy  and  dis- 
astrous method  of  correcting  this  defect. 

When  it  comes  to  the  actual  setting  of  the  premium  rates  it 
must  be  owned  that  our  guiding  principle  gives  us  but  little 
help,  but  that  is  equally  true  of  it  as  applied  elsewhere.  The 
real  difficulty  we  have  to  face  is  that  whereas  if  we  have  a 
fence  to  paint  or  a  roof  to  shingle  we  have  a  large  body  of 
experience  to  draw  upon,  in  the  matter  of  premiums  the  body 
of  available  experience  is  small.  In  the  one  case  the  custom  of 
the  locality  settles  for  us  what  rate  we  must  pay,  whereas  in 
the  other  custom  has  not  yet  been  established.  In  this  matter 
I  am  satisfied  that  the  tendency  is  to  set  the  rates  too  high, 
that  is,  to  set  them  so  high  that  in  the  future  the  employer 
will  be  apt  to  find  as  with  piecework  that  another  workman 
would  be  glad  to  take  the  work  at  a  lower  rate,  if  that  rate  were 
guaranteed.  The  premium  rates  actually  paid  range  between 
one  third  and  one  half  the  wages  rates.  The  former  figure  for 
machine-shop  work  I  regard  as  about  right,  but  the  latter,  except 
in  shops  which  were  under  a  high  state  of  efficiency  before  the 
adoption  of  the  plan,  I  regard  as  dangerous.  In  my  own  use  of 
the  system  in  Canada  the  highest  rate  paid  to  men  was  one 
third  the  wages  rate,  and  it  ranged  from  this  down  to  one 
quarter,  and  this  rate  seemed  there  to  be  ample,  although  the 
lowest  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge.  At  the  same  time 
everything  in  the  way  of  wages,  salaries,  and  incomes  is  on  a 
smaller  scale  in  Canada  than  here,  and  the  rate  would  probably 
be  too  low  here.  .  .  . 

The  question  of  the  extent  of  the  gains  made  is  of  course  a 
legitimate  one.  Several  tables  giving  comparisons  of  the  three 
items  affected  before  and  after  the  adoption  of  the  system  have 
been  published  and  the  gains  are  uniformly  greater  than  would 
be  believed  possible.  In  one  case  a  certain  corporation  had 


284         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

made  thirty-five  large,  heavy  machines,  and  at  a  later  date  they 
entered  upon  a  second  contract  for  twenty  duplicates  which 
were  made  under  the  premium  system,  the  base  time  being 
taken  from  the  cost  records  of  the  first  machines.  At  a  certain 
stage  of  progress  with  the  second  lot  I  was  given  a  table  of 
the  records  of  the  two  contracts,  the  figures  given  including 
all  records,  good  and  bad  alike,  that  had  been  made  on  the 
second  lot.  The  extent  of  the  exhibit  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  time  reported  in  it  for  the  first  contract  aggregated  about 
20,000  hours.  Taking  the  time,  wages  cost  of  the  work,  and 
wages  earned  per  day  on  the  first  contract  as  unity,  the  second 
contract  showed  a  reduction  in  time  of  43  per  cent,  a  reduction 
in  the  wages  cost  of  25  per  cent,  and  an  average  increase  in 
wages  per  day  of  29  per  cent. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  collect  from  the  results  of  every- 
day work  data  of  any  kind  which  are  in  all  respects  satisfactory. 
It  is  especially  difficult  to  preserve  that  fundamental  condition 
of  all  intelligent  experimenting  that  but  one  condition  shall  be 
varied  at  a  time,  and  candor  requires  it  to  be  said  that  this 
criticism  applies  to  this  exhibit.  In  the  nature  of  things  one  of 
these  lots  of  machines  came  first  chronologically.  A  piece  of 
work  done  the  second  time  is  usually  done  with  a  reduction  in 
the  time  expended,  and,  other  things  being  equal,  the  second  lot 
of  machines,  without  any  premium  at  all,  should  have  shown 
some  saving  in  time  and  cost.  Other  things  were  not  equal, 
however,  the  second  lot  being  for  twenty  machines  while  the 
first  was  for  thirty-five,  and  in  these  matters  the  advantage  goes 
with  the  larger  lot,  which  should,  other  things  being  equal, 
be  made  proportionately  more  quickly  than  a  smaller  lot.  To 
correct  the  figures  for  these  influences  is  impossible,  but  it  is 
perfectly  certain  that  without  the  premium  system  no  record 
approaching  that  given  above  could  have  been  made. 

The  same  corporation  gave  me  a  second  exhibit,  which  was 
not  open  to  these  objections,  though  unfortunately  it  was  much 
smaller.  This  exhibit  showed  the  results  on  certain  parts  which 
had  been  reduced  to  a  strictly  manufacturing  basis.  They  had 
been  made  over  and  over  again  and  the  advantage  of  sequence 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR     285 

was  thus  eliminated,  while  the  lots  were  of  the  same  size  in 
both  columns  of  the  exhibit.  The  numbers  in  the  lots  of  dif- 
ferent pieces  varied  between  one  hundred  and  three  hundred. 
Both  workmen  and  foreman  were  positive  that  the  time  on  these 
parts  was  down  to  the  minimum  and  that  it  was  useless  to 
apply  the  premium  plan  to  them.  Nevertheless  the  pieces  for 
which  the  figures  were  given  showed  an  average  reduction  in 
time  of  41  per  cent. 

Another  exhibit  of  considerable  magnitude  was  supplied  by 
an  electrical  manufacturing  company,  the  average  results  shown 
being  a  reduction  in  time  of  39  per  cent,  a  reduction  in  wages 
cost  of  28  per  cent,  and  an  increase  in  wages  per  day  of  23 
per  cent. 

These  gains  are  so  large  as  to  excite  incredulity.  Most  men 
of  experience  will  not  seriously  consider  a  system  which  deliber- 
ately proposes  to  increase  output  by  70  per  cent  while  reducing 
wages  costs  and  increasing  daily  wages  by  25  per  cent,  and  I 
am  satisfied  that  if  the  plan  did  about  half  as  well  as  it  really 
does  its  growth  would  be  much  more  rapid  than  it  is.  Apart 
from  exact  figures,  which  are  difficult  to  get,  is  testimony  from 
many  men  in  many  lines  of  work,  which  is  substantially 
unanimous  in  saying  that  the  system  works  in  the  manner 
described,  and  this  testimony  is  not  a  matter  of  geography  or 
nationality.  ...  RALSEY_ 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  AT  THE  WORKS  OF  DAVID  ROWAN  &  Co., 
GLASGOW,  SCOTLAND  1 

Work  as  recorded  on  a  job  ticket  is  given  to  a  workman  on 
a  time  allowance,  and  if  he  reduces  this  time  allowance  his 
rate  of  wages  per  hour  while  he  is  working  at  the  job  is 
increased  by  the  same  percentage  as  that  by  which  the  time 
allowance  has  been  reduced.  It  is  of  course  apparent  that  data 
must  be  collected  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  at  the  time  to  be 

1  From  the  American  Machinist,  January  9,  1902.  Correspondence  of  Mr. 
James  Rowan  with  Mr.  Halsey. 


286         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

allowed  to  do  work.  For  this  purpose  a  special  department 
(rate-fixing  department)  is  required,  and  when  instituted,  data 
accumulate  very  quickly.  The  period  occupied  in  doing  work 
under  the  usual  time-payment  conditions  may  be  accepted  as 
the  time  allowance  of  the  premium  system. 

When  a  job  is  given  to  a  workman  a  job  ticket  is  issued  to 
him  with  a  description  of  the  work  to  be  done  and  the  time 
allowed  to  do  it.  On  completion  of  the  work  the  job  ticket  is 
initialed  and  the  time  of  day  recorded  on  it  by  the  foreman, 
and  this  is  the  time  of  commencing  the  next  job.  When  the 
work  has  been  examined  and  passed  by  the  works  inspector 
the  job  ticket  is  handed  to  the  rate-fixing  department,  which 
passes  the  same  for  payment.  In  the  case  of  a  job  being 
rejected  by  the  inspector,  any  premium  which  would  otherwise 
have  been  earned  by  the  workman  by  reason  of  his  having 
reduced  the  time  allowance  is  forfeited.  No  clerical  labor 
devolves  upon  the  workmen  and  very  little  upon  the  foremen. 

The  time  allowance  for  a  job  given  to  a  workman  rated  at 
say  8d.  per  hour  is  100  hours,  and  the  actual  time  occupied  on 
the  job  amounts  to  75  hours.  We  have  then  100  hours  at  8d. 
=  800  pence  against  75  hours  at  $>d.  -f  25  per  cent  (2d.}  =  750 
pence,  giving  the  workman  a  premium  =  150  pence,  or  2d.  per 
hour,  and  the  employer  a  reduced  cost  =  50  pence.  Provided 
the  time  allowances  are  equitable  to  employer  and  employed, 
and  based  on  the  average  attainments  of  hourly  labor,  it  will  be 
evident  from  the  foregoing  that  the  higher  the  premium  earned 
by  the  workman  the  greater  will  be  the  saving  in  cost.  The 
output  of  the  machines  is  also  increased,  but  it  is  a  hard  matter 
to  put  a  value  to  this. 

The  table  shows  your  method  of  premium  system,  that 
adopted  by  Messrs.  G.  &  ].  Weir  of  this  city,  and  our  system. 
Messrs.  Weir's  is  exactly  the  same  as  yours  in  principle,  with 
the  exception  that  the  workman  receives  half  the  time  saved 
and  in  your  case  he  receives  one  third.1  My  system  is  totally 

1  Mr.  Rowan  is  of  course  in  error  in  assuming  my  idea  to  be  thus  limited. 
The  amount  of  the  premium  rate  has  received  in  these  columns  as  much  or  more 
discussion  than  any  other  feature  of  the  system.  —  F.  S.  H. 


THE  PREMIUM  PLAN  OF  PAYING  FOR  LABOR     287 


COMPARISON  OF  DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  CALCULATING  PREMIUMS 

Halsey's  Method 


WAGES  RATH  30  CENTS  PER  HOUR 

Premium  earned 
on  Job 

Total  Labor 
Cost 

Workman's  Rate 
per  Hour 

Hours 
allowed 

Hours 
taken 

Tim*  Wages 
on  Job 

100 

IOO 

#30.00 

$0.00 

$30.00 

$0.30 

100 

90 

27.00 

1.  00 

28.00 

•3" 

100 

80 

24.00 

2.OO 

26.00 

•325 

IOO 

70 

2I.OO 

3.00 

24.00 

•343 

IOO 

60 

18.00 

4.00 

22.OO 

.366 

IOO 

5° 

15.00 

5.OO 

2O.OO 

.40 

IOO 

40 

I2.OO 

6.00 

18.00 

•45 

IOO 

3° 

Q.OO 

7.00 

16.00 

•533 

IOO 

20 

6.00 

8.00 

14.00 

.70 

IOO 

10 

3.00 

9.00 

I2.OO 

1.20 

IOO 

I 

•30 

9.90 

IO.2O 

IO.2O 

Weir's  Method 


IOO 

IOO 

#30.00 

#0.00 

#30.00 

#0.30 

IOO 

90 

27.00 

1.50 

28.50 

.316 

IOO 

80 

24.00 

3.00 

27.00 

•337 

IOO 

70 

2I.OO 

4-5° 

25.50 

•364 

IOO 

60 

18.00 

6.00 

24.00 

.40 

IOO 

5° 

15.00 

7-50 

22.50 

•45 

IOO 

40 

12.00 

9.00 

21.00 

•525 

IOO 

30 

9.00 

10.50 

19.50 

.65 

IOO 

20 

6.00 

I2.OO 

18.00 

.90 

IOO 

IO 

3.00 

13-S° 

16.50 

1.65 

IOO 

I 

•30 

14.85 

*s-*s 

J5-i5 

Rowan's  Method 


IOO 

IOO 

#30.00 

#0.00 

#30.00 

#0.30 

IOO 

90 

27.00 

2.70 

29.70 

•33 

IOO 

80 

24.00 

4.80 

28.80 

•36 

IOO 

70 

21.00 

6.30 

27.30 

•39 

IOO 

60 

18.00 

7.20 

25.20 

.42 

IOO 

5° 

15.00 

7-5° 

22.50 

•45 

IOO 

40 

I2.OO 

7.20 

19.20 

.48 

IOO 

30 

9.00 

6.30 

15-30 

•5i 

IOO 

20 

6.00 

4.80 

10.80 

•54 

IOO 

10 

3.00 

2.70 

5-70 

•57 

IOO 

1 

•30 

.297 

•597 

•597 

288         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

different.  You  will  notice  in  the  last  line  of  the  table  showing 
the  results  of  your  system  that  a  workman,  if  he  is  allowed  100 
hours  to  do  a  piece  of  work  and  does  it  in  one  hour,  receives 
about  34  times  his  hourly  rate  of  wages ;  with  Weir's  system 
he  receives  50  times ;  with  our  system  not  quite  double.  Also 
compare  the  next  to  the  last  line,  showing  with  your  system  his 
wages  are  increased  4  times,  with  Weir's  5^  times,  with  mine 
90  per  cent,  or  10  per  cent  less  than  double. 

In  quoting  the  last  two  lines  of  the  table  showing  the  results 
of  your  system,  Weir's  system,  and  my  system,  you  will  no 
doubt  remark  that  these  are  extreme  cases  and  seldom  to  be 
met  with,  but  these  are  the  cases  we  are  aiming  at  and  hope  to 
arrive  at  some  day,  although  it  may  be  a  long  way  off.  When 
we  do  arrive  at  them  we  will  not  require  to  cut  the  man's  rate, 
but  you  will,  and  so  will  the  Messrs.  Weir ;  so  that  while  yours 
is  a  decided  improvement  upon  the  ordinary  piecework  system 
at  the  earlier  stages,  there  is  no  great  improvement  upon  the 
ordinary  piecework  system  when  you  come  to  great  reductions 
in  the  hours  taken,  and  these  are  the  stages  at  which  you  wish 
to  encourage  the  men  as  well  as  at  the  earlier  stages ;  here  I 
think  my  system  has  a  great  advantage  over  any  other  system 
of  which  I  have  yet  heard. 


XII 

* 

THE  PRINTING  TRADES  AND  THE  CRISIS   IN 
BRITISH   INDUSTRY1 

Jeremiads,  apart  from  any  literary  value  they  may  have,  are 
not  of  any  conspicuous  service  to  mankind.  For  one  thing, 
they  are  apt  to  come  when  the  need  for  them  is  over,  as  the 
particular  variety  of  prophet  who  is  responsible  for  them  loves 
not  to  talk  at  sluggish  or  incredulous  ears.  Further,  they  are 
generally  discouraging  at  a  time  when  perhaps  the  condition  of 
affairs  is  beginning  to  improve.  Lastly,  they  take  the  common 
form  of  recrimination  between  those  who  should  be  fellow- 
citizens,  or  fellow-workers,  or  partners  in  some  joint  enterprise. 
The  present  discussion  on  the  decadence  of  British  industry, 
which  has  been  continued  for  some  time,  partakes  at  best  of 
the  unphilosophical  character  hinted  at  above,  while  at  times 
it  degenerates  into  an  avowed  polemic  against  trade  unions. 
It  has  been  begun  by  a  would-be  encyclopedic  correspondent 
of  the  Times,2  from  whose  columns  the  controversy  —  and  why 
should  it  be  a  controversy?  —  has  overflowed  into  half  the 
magazines  and  journals  of  the  country.  The  difficulty  now  is 
to  lend  so  vast  a  subject-matter  some  unity  for  the  purposes  of 
fair  discussion,  if  we  would  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  drawn 
into  a  partisanship  in  what  is  unnecessarily  supposed  to  be  a 
conflict  between  the  interests  of  employers  and  employed.  As 
far  as  the  articles  in  the  Times  as  a  whole  are  concerned,  they 
are  chaotic  enough  to  be  considered  impartial  on  this  disputed 
question,  even  if  that  be  not  their  intention.  While  the  main 

1  From  the  Economic  Journal ',  Vol.  XII,  1902,  pp.  1-12.    The  writer  is  manager 
of  the  Manchester  Guardian. 

2  The  Times  articles  are  reprinted  under  the  title  "  Trade  Unions  and  British 
Industry,"  London,  1904. —  ED. 

'289 


F; 


2QO        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

argument,  printed  in  aristocratic  "  bourgeois,"  seems  to  be 
that  British  workingmen  are  incompetent  enough  to  be  dis- 
^honest  and  dishonest  enough  to  remain  incompetent,  there  are 
not  wanting  little  jewels  of  knowledge,  printed  in  unassuming 
"minion,"  where  an  intelligent  employer,  not  afraid  to  be 
straightforward,  gives  some  sound  raps  to  his  own  class  and  a 
generous  acknowledgment  of  the  merit  of  the  best  men  under 
him.  .  .  .  What  is  more  obviously  wanting  in  the  Times  articles 
as  a  whole  is  some  proper  methodical  treatment  of  the  confused 
mass  of  material  collected.  A  single  industry  treated  with 
adequate  knowledge  would  give  more  solid  ground  for  sound 
generalizations  than  all  the  display  of  undigested  technical 
information  ranging  over  twenty  different  trades,  which  makes 
such  an  impression  on  the  nonindustrial  public.  Supposing 
there  to  be  a  need  of  some  vital  amendment  of  our  industrial 
organization,  which  is  within  the  range  of  imagination  even  of 
an  optimist,  there  is  room  in  such  a  study  of  the  question  for 
many  aspects  omitted  or  scantily  treated  in  the  articles  which 
have  appeared  in  the  Times.  I  will  not  quarrel  with  their  cor- 
respondent for  setting  aside,  on  the  whole,  the  vexed  question 
of  tariffs,  which  would  lead  us  into  unnecessary  ramifications ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  in  each  industry  there  should  be  con- 
sidered in  any  comparison  of  ourselves  with  competing  coun- 
tries or  with  a  particular  competing  country  the  following 
points  :  material  resources,  efficiency  of  traffic  conditions,  aver- 
age scale  of  transactions,  facilities  for  securing  capital,  and, 
especially  while  we  are  discussing  the  efficiency  of  labor,  the 
efficiency  also  of  the  employing  class.  My  inclination  is  to  be- 
lieve that  where  we  are  now  falling  behind  our  competitors  — 
and  I  mean  generally  in  this  article  to  keep  America  in  mind  as 
the  chief  one  of  them  —  is  much  more  in  respect  to  the  other 
items  that  I  have  mentioned  than  in  the  supposed  average 
inefficiency  of  British  labor  or  on  account  of  the  trade  restric- 
tions imposed  by  labor  organizations. 

Let  me  attack  without  delay  my  own  particular  subject,  the 
printing  trades.  It  is  clear  from  Article  VIII  in  this  series  of 
the  Times  that  their  correspondent  has  taken  great  pains  to 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  291 

inform  himself  from  instructed  persons  of  the  conditions  of  a 
business  not  known  to  him  at  first  hand.  His  information,  so 
far  as  it  goes,  is  correct  and  many  of  the  reflections  are  just, 
but  in  his  sketch  there  is  so  much  missing  that  any  deductions 
from  his  inadequate  material  are  too  narrow  to  be  of  general 
value.  Of  the  three  common  processes  of  printing,  by  which  I 
mean  the  composition  of  types,  the  stereotyping  of  printing 
surfaces,  and  printing  proper  in  the  press,  he  has  inverted 
the  natural  order,  and  speaks  first  of  machine  minding  or  the 
tending  of  printing  presses.  In  this  class  of  work  he  treats  of 
only  one  variety  of  press,  the  two-revolution  flat-bed  press, 
now  in  a  state  of  transition.  This  is  a  kind  of  press  still  cover- 
ing a  very  wide  range  of  work,  but  less  than  it  used  to  do  a 
few  years  ago.  For  the  steady  improvement  of  rotary  presses 
proper  —  that  is,  where  the  paper  passes  continuously  between 
two  revolving  cylinders  instead  of  in  sheets  between  a  revolv- 
ing cylinder  and  a  flat  reciprocating  bed  —  is  gradually  robbing 
a  larger  and  larger  portion  of  magazine  and  good-class  illus- 
trated work  from  the  older  and  slower  machine.  I  know  that 
at  present  two  of  the  leading  printing-press  manufacturers  in 
America,  where  we  still  look  for  our  new  ideas  and  processes, 
have  got  their  minds  fixed  on  improvements  adapted  for  this 
special  purpose  as  being  the  next  probable  step  in  the  gradual 
advance  of  efficiency.  Now  in  Article  VIII  there  is  no  word 
of  mention  of  these  fast  rotary  presses,  whether  single,  triple, 
quadruple,  or  sextuple,  whether  made  by  Hoe,  Goss,  Foster, 
or  the  Victory  Company,  and  the  slow-working  presses  at  the 
other  end  of  the  scale,  such  as  the  platen  press  or  the  power 
die  press,  are  passed  over  in  similar  silence.  However,  taking 
the  narrow  class  of  work  to  which  the  contributor  of  the  Times 
does  refer,  he  has  raised  one  interesting  point,  which  shows 
how  dangerous  it  is  to  argue  from  the  particular  to  the  general 

without  a  full  command  of  the  facts.    He  writes: 

-•• 

A  curious  illustration  of  these  restrictive  methods  of  working  is 
afforded  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  fast  American  presses  intro- 
duced into  this  country  have  actually  been  thrown  out  of  order 
because  of  the  unwillingness  of  the  men  to  work  them  at  the  rate  for 


292         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

which  they  are  designed.  There  can,  however,  hardly  be  any  patri- 
otic prejudice  against  these  "American  "  machines  as  such,  because, 
though  designed  in  the  United  States,  they  are  now  built  in  England 
from  English  materials  by  English  workmen,  and  these  English-made 
machines  are  declared  to  be  better  made  and  capable  of  quicker  run- 
ning than  those  constructed  in  America.  Obviously  the  real  motive  of 
the  printers  is  to  "  leave  work  for  some  one  else." 

Although  it  is  not  quite  clear,  I  take  it  that  by  the  words 
"  thrown  out  of  order"  no  accusation  of  rattening  is  brought 
against  British  workmen.  Still,  as  it  stands,  we  bave  here  an 
instance  of  what  is  labeled  in  the  Times  articles  as  "  ca' 
canny,"  in  other  words,  the  deliberate  manufacture  of  work  in 
order  to  increase  employment.  But  the  instance  brought  forward, 
which  happens  to  be  within  my  knowledge,  is  a  rather  absurd 
exaggeration  of  an  experience  common  to  every  employer. 
Here  we  have  a  Miehle  machine,  a  comparatively  new  kind  of 
machine,  introduced  by  the  Machinery  Trust,  evidently  for  the 
first  time,  in  an  office  where  acquaintance  with  this  grade  of 
press  was  inadequate.  The  Miehle  was  designed  for  a  run  of 
2000  an  hour ;  but  it  is  not  easy  for  a  machine  minder  accus- 
tomed to  feed  a  Wharf edale  at  1200  or  1500  an  hour  to  jump 
at  once  into  the  habit  of  the  increased  speed,  and  in  this  case 
the  workman,  perhaps  from  stupidity,  more  probably  from 
timidity,  geared  the  machine,  or  had  it  geared,  to  work  at  a 
lower  speed.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  this  would  have  had  no 
result  except  that  sooner  or  later  the  employer  or  his  foreman  — 
supposing  the  office  to  be  in  capable  hands  —  would  have  found 
that  the  machine  was  not  running  up  to  contractspeed  and  would 
have  wished  to  know  the  reason  why.  Then  either  the  employer 
would  have  insisted  on  the  proper  output  from  the  machine 
minder,  or  else  complaint  would  have  been  made  to  the  manu- 
facturers. In  this  particular  case — and  I  have  never  heard  of  a 
similar  one  —  the  machine  was  so  delicately  constructed  that  it 
was  injured  and  thrown  out  of  order  by  running  under  its 
proper  speed.  But  apart  from  the  fact  that  the  accident  may 
have  arisen  quite  as  much  from  overcaution  as  from  careless- 
ness, if  an  employer  is  to  interpret  every  case  of  laziness  or 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  293 

incompetence  as  conspiracy,  the  columns  of  the  Times  for  a  year 
would  not  hold  the  evidence  that  could  be  brought  forth.  .  .  . 
With  regard  to  the  primary  process  of  printing,  the  composi- 
tion of  types,  whether  by  machine  or  by  hand,  only  the  former 
is  dealt  with  in  the  article  which  we  are  considering.  Great 
stress  is  laid  on  the  performances  attained  in  certain  competi- 
tions on  the  linotype  machine  held  in  London,  Glasgow,  and 
Manchester,  performances  to  which  employers  of  experience 
will  attach  no  very  great  value.  There  can  be  no  harm  in  these 
competitions,  and  I  greatly  regret  that  the  Typographical 
Association  in  a  narrow-minded  spirit  should  have  discouraged, 
and  the  London  Society  have  forbidden,  any  participation  by 
their  members  in  these  tests  of  skill  under  artificial  conditions. 
But  it  must  not  be  assumed  that  competitions  of  this  kind  set 
up  any  standard  of  output  available  for  practical  purposes.  We 
have  not,  as  I  myself  believe,  at  all  reached  a  possible  or  even 
creditable  output  in  England  in  machine  composition,  b'ut  the 
adoption  of  deceptive  records  such  as  those  obtained  in  com- 
petitions seems  to  do  more  harm  than  good.  Of  more  interest 
in  the  said  article  are  passages  quoted  from  the  remarks  of 
an  employer  evidently  well  versed  in  the  condition  of  the 
London  trade  and  also  in  the  details  of  the  recent  dispute 
between  the  masters  and  the  London  Society  of  Compositors. 
There  is  much  truth  in  his  statement  that  masters  in  the 
printing  trade  —  and  it  is  as  true  of  the  provinces  as  in  London 
—  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  extremely  difficult 
technicalities  of  composition,  and  in  all  dealings  with  their 
men  they  put  themselves  at  a  further  disadvantage  by  the 
universal  employment  in  union  houses  of  union  men  as  their 
overseers.  This  is  not  to  say  that  among  this  able  and  faithful 
class  of  men  there  is  a  general  disloyalty  to  the  firms  which 
employ  them,  but  simply  as  a  matter  of  human  nature  it  is 
impossible  for  a  man  to  serve  two  masters  ;  it  is  enough  to 
expect  of  a  newly  appointed  overseer,  who  has  been  a  good 
union  man  for  say  fifteen  or  twenty  years  and  who  is  still 
on  the  sick  and  superannuation  funds  of  the  society  and 
dependent  for  all  prospective  benefits  from  these  funds  on  the 


294 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


votes  of  the  men  under  him,  that  he  should  be  at  most  impar- 
tial when  difficulties  arise  between  his  employers  and  the 
union.  But  impartiality  is  hardly  the  virtue  required  by  a 
business  man  from  his  own  agent ;  one  would  not  expect  it 
from  a  solicitor  nor  even  from  an  expert  witness. 

To  sum  up  the  consideration  of  this  question  of  machine 
composition,  just  objection  can  be  taken  to  the  policy  of  the 
Typographical  Association  and  also  of  the  London  Society  of 
Compositors  in  the  two  following  important  respects,  —  their 
refusal  to  allow  any  form  of  bonus  or  premium  system  in 
union  offices  and  their  prohibition  of  any  marking  or  checking 
of  copy  whereby  the  output  of  individual  operators  can  be 
ascertained.  It  is  further  true,  although  less  so  of  the  Typo- 
graphical Association,  which  is  the  provincial  organization,  and 
more  so  of  the  London  Society,  that  the  effect  of  their  action 
—  and  it  is  difficult  to  believe,  considering  how  able  a  body  of 
men  have  been  their  leaders,  that  their  intentions  have  always 
been  directed  the  other  way  —  has  been  to  delay  and  obstruct 
the  introduction  of  linotype  and  other  typesetting  machines 
and  to  hamper  their  use.  Circumstances,  in  the  shape  of  an 
obsolete  table  of  extra  payments  for  "  fat "  matter  and  anti- 
quated traditions  and  regulations  as  to  what  may  be  assigned 
to  "house"  hands  and  what  are  the  functions  of  "stone"  men 
and  correctors,  have  also  militated  against  the  full  development 
of  the  new  efficiency  of  machinery.  But  we  can  find  a  useful 
instance  of  how  much  employers  themselves  are  to  blame  for 
many  of  their  present  troubles  in  a  comparison  between  the 
position  now  occupied  by  union  houses  in  London  and  in  the 
provinces.  The  provincial  employers  have  been  organized  for 
some  years  in  the  Linotype  Users'  Association,  to  which  also 
many  London  houses  nominally  belong.  Some  four  or  five 
years  ago  a  useful  working  agreement  was  made  between  them 
and  the  Typographical  Association,  covering  the  greater  part  of 
their  area  but  not  London,  whereby  all  questions  relating  to 
working  on  what  is  called  the  "  stab  "  or  weekly  wage  system 
were  regulated  on  a  satisfactory  basis.  The  agreement  has 
been  loyally  observed,  and  although  it  does  not  cover  the 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  295 

whole  ground  and  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  final,  still  under 
it  linotype  users,  at  present  mostly  newspapers,  enjoy  the 
real  control  of  their  offices,  as  well  as  an  option  between  two 
working  systems.  Of  the  two  systems  the  weekly  wage  system 
has  been  found  to  be  more  advantageous  and  has  been  gener- 
ally adopted  by  union  houses  in  the  provinces.  The  London 
houses,  on  the  other  hand,  were  slower  to  adopt  the  new 
machinery  and  slower  to  resort  to  combination.  At  the  time 
of  the  provincial  agreement  they  neglected  to  take  steps  to 
join  the  larger  and  on  the  whole  stronger  body  of  their  breth- 
ren and  to  effect  either  together  with  them  or  simultaneously 
an]  equally  advantageous  working  arrangement.  That  is  the 
position  they  are  now  in.  Neither  the  morning  nor  the  even- 
ing newspapers  in  London  are  at  liberty  to  adopt  the  "  stab  " 
or  weekly  wage  system  so  long  as  they  remain  union  houses. 
In  all  the  expensive  details  of  charges  for  extras  they  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  London  Society.  Headings,  small  caps,  rules, 
italics,  and  "fat  "  matter  of  every  kind  have  all  to  be  paid  for 
two  or  three  times  over.  And  it  is  not  so  much  the  additional 
cost  of  these  impositions  which  constitutes  a  burden  on  the 
employer  as  the  continual  impediment  they  offer  to  efficiency. 
Some  idea  of  how  much  this  amounts  to  in  the  long  run  can 
be  seen  in  the  parallel  cases  of  three  London  houses  now  turn- 
ing out  the  same  class  of  work.  Two  of  these  houses  employ 
only  Society  hands,  and  the  output  per  hour  is  4000  ens  l  and 
5000  ens  respectively.  The  third  office  is  non-Society,  and 
their  men  are  paid  an  inclusive  rate  on  the  piece  system,  while 
no  extras  are  recognized.  The  result  in  efficiency  is  astonish- 
ing, as  the  output  is  7500  ens  an  hour.  Another  instance  can 
be  shown  in  the  case  of  the  £/.  James  Gazette,  which,  to  escape 
from  the  toils  of  "  extras  "  under  the  piece  system,  offered  their 
men  a  fixed  weekly  wage  as  an  alternative,  but  were  refused  by 
the  union  a  right  possessed  by  every  employer  in  the  prov- 
inces. The  only  resource  of  the  newspaper  was  to  become 
a  non-Society  house.  In  all  this  the  moral  to  me  is  that 

1  Equivalent  to  2000  ems  according  to  the  American  standard  of  measurement. 
—  ED. 


296         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

employers  should  have  the  foresight  to  provide  for  their  own 
interests;  and  for  this  barrier  to  efficiency  the  London  Society 
is  in  only  a  minor  degree  to  blame.  The  remedy  is  within  the 
reach  of  London  employers  whenever  they  will  take  the  trouble 
to  combine  to  protect  themselves  against  a  rather  elementary 
form  of  oppression.  .  .  . 

F""*The  common-sense  view  of  the  condition  of  the  printing 
trade  in  Great  Britain  is  that  it  is  now  in  a  very  fair  condition 

Vof  prosperity  and  efficiency.  The  nature  of  the  work  takes  it 
out  of  the  rank  of  those  industries  in  which  foreign  competi- 
tion is  possible  to  any  great  extent.  By  far  the  greater  part  of 
printing,  for  instance  all  newspapers,  magazines,  weekly  papers, 
and  the  smaller  kind  of  jobbing  work,  must  be  done  by  each 
country  on  the  spot  where  it  is  wanted,  and  even  supposing 
this  natural  condition  of  the  business  were  removed  there  is 
little  doubt  that  so  far  from  the  bulk  of  our  printing  going  to 
the  continent,  we  should  soon  be  doing,  provided  we  had  the 
stocks  of  type  and  the  command  of  the  languages,  a  good  deal 
more  of  their  work  than  they  would  be  doing  of  ours.  There 
is  very  little  demand  for  cheap  printing.  If  there  were,  country 
offices  can  be  found  in  England  where  straightforward  work 
would  be  quite  as  cheaply  done  as  in  Middelburg,  Holland. 
There  was  a  town  in  the  north  of  England  where  I  heard  of 
rates  for  machine  composition  which  were  about  a  fourth  of 
the  London  rates,  but  the  proprietor  was  not  making  a  fortune. 
No,  if  comparisons  are  to  be  made  between  printing  in  our 
country  and  printing  elsewhere,  some  other  standard  must  be 
taken  than  mere  cost  per  square  foot  of  paper.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  our  efficiency  in  nearly  every  matter  relating  to 
printing  is  very  much  higher  than  it  was  ten  years  ago,  and 
with  hardly  an  exception,  unless  perhaps  in  some  improve- 
ments in  the  most  delicate  color  printing,  our  lessons  have 
come  from  America,  whence  also  we  have  received  nearly  all 
our  new  processes  and  our  improved  machinery.  For  all  this 
we  cannot  plume  ourselves  on  having  surpassed  those  who 
have  lately  been  our  instructors.  There  is  still  a  great  deal 
for  us  to  learn  from  the  American  printers,  who,  although  not 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  297 

so  far  ahead  of  us  as  they  used  to  be,  are  more  efficient,  both 
masters  and  men,  than  we.  Take  for  instance  the  composi- 
tion of  types  by  machine,  about  which  a  great  deal  has  been 
already  said.  Statistics  valuable  for  comparative  purposes  here 
are  hard  to  get,  as  there  is  no  absolute  standard  and  working 
conditions  vary  immensely  in  different  offices.  But  from  in- 
quiries and  comparisons  made  on  visits  to  America  in  1899 
and  1901  and  from  much  correspondence  which  I  have  read 
both  in  American  and  in  English  papers  on  the  subject,  my 
opinion  is  that  the  output  on  the  linotype  machines  there  is 
on  the  average  not  less  than  60  per  cent  greater  than  here  in 
a  given  time. 

This  difference  is  certainly  a  great  deal  more  than  it  should 
be,  and  as  the  linotype  machine  has  become  of  general  use  in 
the  country  now  for  five  or  six  years  we  ought  to  be  past  the 
transition  stage.  As  matters  now  stand  in  the  provinces,  where, 
as  pointed  out  above,  we  have  come  nearer  to  a  permanent 
settlement  than  in  London,  most  offices  are  working  on  the 
"stab"  system,  where  the  rates  are  fixed  by  agreement  with 
the  Typographical  Association  at  an  increase  of  \2\  per  cent 
on  the  local  rates  for  hand  setting  in  vogue  before  the  introduc- 
tion of  typesetting  machinery.  Under  the  present  terms,  how- 
ever, the  rate  of  production  is  much  lower  than  it  should  be, 
and  employers  must  look  around  for  some  needed  stimulus. 
This  stimulus  is  not  supplied  by  the  "  piece  "  scale,  which,  being 
based  on  a  slight  advance  on  the  old  "piece"  hand  rates,  does' 
not  take  into  account  the  enormously  increased  productivity  of 
the  machine.  The  present  piece  rates  now  enforced  by  the 
Typographical  Association  and  the  London  Society  of  Com- 
positors, although  never  yet  officially  sanctioned  by  the  Lino- 
type Users'  Association,  which  is  the  organization  of  the  em- 
ployers, besides  the  fact  that  they  sanction  the  continuance  of 
obsolete  and  obstructive  regulations  as  to  extras,  which  are 
even  more  oppressive  than  they  are  costly,  practically  bring 
an  easy  and  luxurious  living  within  the  reach  of  the  careless 
and  incompetent.  It  is  possible  now  for  a  compositor  who 
has  received  a  year's  training  on  the  linotype  machine  to 


298         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

attain  without  special  skill  or  unusual  exertion  an  output  of 
five  thousand  ens  l  per  hour,  or  about  half  the  average  rate  of  an 
American  compositor.  As  his  weekly  bill  will  be  augmented  at 
least  10  per  cent  by  extras  and  fat  matter  and  he  will  probably 
have  copy  for  forty-five  hours  during  the  week,  some  of  which 
will  be  overtime  at  higher  rates,  this  prince  of  workingmen  will 
receive  in  London  or  Manchester  on  a  morning  newspaper  some 
seventy  or  seventy-five  shillings  a  week.  This  is  a  higher 
income  than  a  graduate  of  Oxford  or  Cambridge  with  first-class 
honors  can  often  obtain  in  the  scholastic  market. 

In  all  this  I  want  to  make  it  clear  that  I  have  no  quarrel 
with  the  high  wages  but  with  the  fatal  obstacle  to  all  improve- 
ment. There  is  many  a  student  who  has  been  of  less  use  to 
the  world  than  a  first-rate  linotype  operator;  but  it  is  not  just 
that  a  student  who  works  hard  should  find  it  more  difficult  to 
earn  a  living  than  the  compositor  who  plays  with  his  work. 
Undoubtedly  the  lack  of  efficiency  in  this  branch  of  the  print- 
ing industry  is  the  serious  thing.  The  facts  are  clear,  and  em- 
ployers should  rouse  themselves  to  put  an  end  to  it.  Naturally 
it  is  not  the  function  of  the  Typographical  Association  or  of 
the  London  Society  of  Compositors  to  lower  the  wages  of  their 
own  members,  nor  does  the  primary  responsibility  for  securing 
increased  efficiency  and  a  better  output  rest  with  them  while 
their  employers  remain  supine. 

In  two  respects  only  is  the  policy  of  the  two  great  trade 
unions  of  the  compositors  open  to  objection,  both  of  which 
have  been  mentioned  above  and  were  referred  to  in  the  Times 
article.  The  first  and  most  important  is  their  refusal  to 
countenance  any  form  of  premium  or  bonus  system.  Their 
resistance  to  this  is  theoretically  indefensible,  as  a  premium 
system  consults  equally  both  the  interests  of  the  workman  who 
requires  a  living  or  minimum  wage  and  the  interests  of  the 
employer  who  wants  to  be  secured  a  minimum  output.  There 
is  further  a  supreme  interest  which  combines  both  these  and  is 
often  forgotten  by  each  side, —  the  common  welfare  of  the  trade. 

1  That  is,  2500  ems  American  measure.  See  Chapter  X,  "  Introduction  of  the 
Linotype,"  p.  253.  —  ED. 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  299 

The  premium  system,  after  providing  for  the  workman  a  regular 
weekly  wage,  insures  also  to  the  employer  a  definite  weekly 
output.  When  the  rights  of  both  have  been  fully  secured  they 
are  partners  in  further  progress,  and  the  employed  receives  a 
share  of  the  profit  which  he  is  making  for  his  employer.  Not 
only  is  it  the  system  which  prevails  in  and  is  responsible  for  the 
progress  of  the  most  ably  conducted  engineering  industries  in 
America,  not  only  is  it  adopted  in  perhaps  the  best-regulated 
manufacturing  enterprise  in  the  world,  the  Steel  Works  of 
Pittsburg,  but  its  principle  has  been  accepted  and  it  is  now  in 
force  in  many  prosperous  workshops  in  our  own  country.  Its 
adoption  by  the  printing  industry  would  soon  enable  both 
master  and  men  to  reach  a  standard  equal  to  that  now  attained 
in  America. 

The  second  restriction  on  progress  with  which  we  can 
reproach  both  the  Typographical  Association  and  the  London 
Society  of  Compositors  is  not  extremely  serious  and  is  not  so 
discreditable  to  the  intentions  of  their  officials  as  to  their 
intellects.  They  forbid  any  attempt  to  get  the  operator  work- 
ing on  a  weekly  wage  to  furnish  any  account  of  his  output.  As 
the  employer  now  has  the  means  of  detecting  by  an  automatic 
arrangement  on  the  machine  what  work  each  individual  has 
done,  the  continuance  of  this  obsolete  and  useless  regulation 
among  the  union  rules  can  have  no  effect  but  to  prejudice  them 
in  the  eyes  of  the  public.  .  .  . 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  composition  and  compositors  I 
should  like  to  add  a  tribute  to  men  whom  I  have  personally 
known  among  the  leaders  of  the  Typographical  Association  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  I  can  remember  during  a  period  of 
ten  years  negotiations  with  more  than  three  presidents  and  two 
secretaries  and  many,  many  committeemen.  My  impression 
from  prolonged  conferences  and  frequent  dealings  with  them 
as  opponents  was  not  only  that  they  had  a  better  command  of 
detail  than  we  employers  who  had  to  meet  them,  but  that  they 
were  a  farsighted,  able  set  of  men,  whose  influence  over  their 
followers  was  in  the  direction  of  progress.  They  honorably 
observed  any  engagements  made  with  us,  even  at  times  when 


300         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

they  had  great  difficulty  in  bringing  the  men  whom  they  repre- 
sented into  line.  .  .  . 

The  course  of  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  in  the  printing 
trade  has  been  one  long  process  of  education  from  America. 
An  employer  must  reckon  it  part  of  his  duties  nowadays  to 
take  a  trip  across  the  Atlantic  as  often  as  possible  to  inquire  into 
new  processes  and  look  up  new  machinery.  There  is  nothing  to 
be  ashamed  of  in  this  course,  for  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
last  century  the  pilgrimage  was  the  other  way.  And  our  imi- 
tation is  not  slavish,  nor  does  our  capital  go  altogether  to 
American  manufacturers.  We  have  to  buy  our  experimental 
machinery  mostly  from  the  land  where  it  was  invented,  but  our 
manufacturers  are  quick  to  take  up  the  American  patents  and 
to  borrow  their  models,  so  that  the  industry  is  not  lost  to  this 
country.  To  mention  a  few  specific  instances  of  especial  im- 
portance, this  has  been  the  case  with  the  linotype  typesetting 
machine  and  the  whole  class  of  fast  rotary  newspaper  presses 
with  the  triangular  former,  commonly  called  the  Hoe  folder,  a 
type  now  adopted  by  all  English  manufacturers  but  first  intro- 
duced from  the  other  side.  The  same  is  true  of  two  special 
classes  of  flat-bed  presses,  some  systems  of  applying  electrical 
power  to  printing  machinery,  and  also  the  latest  product  of 
American  invention,  the  autoplate  stereotyping  machine.  In 
all  the  above  cases,  while  the  patterns  and  patents  come  from 
the  other  side  of  the  water,  this  machinery  is  now  being  manu- 
factured in  England. 

There  seems  to  be  a  generally  prevalent  opinion  among 
employers  who  have  made  inquiries  for  themselves  —  and  I  am 
not  speaking  now  especially  of  my  own  business  but  referring 
to  all  kinds  of  manufactures  —  that  although  wages  are  univer- 
sally higher  in  America  both  in  money  and  in  real  value,  still 
labor  is  cheaper  because  it  is  so  much  more  efficient.  This 
feeling  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  curious  outcry  against  trade 
unions  lately  prevalent  at  a  time  when  trade  unionism  is 
much  less  aggressive  than  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  assumed, 
and  it  is  quite  true,  that  our  material  in  labor  equals  that  of 
the  best  country  in  the  world.  The  deduction  is  that  the  labor 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  301 

organizations  are  to  blame  for  keeping  back  the  proper  output  of 
their  members,  and  a  great  deal  of  evidence  has  been  collected, 
especially  in  the  series  of  articles  published  in  the  Times,  to  prove 
the  existence  of  a  subtle  conspiracy  labeled  "  ca'  canny  "  per- 
vading unionism  and  encouraged  by  its  leaders,  whereby  a 
given  quantity  of  work  can  be  distributed  to  as  large  a  number 
of  hands  as  possible.  Now  we  all  know  what  "  making  work  " 
means.  Every  employer  knows  what  it  means ;  every  one  who 
has  ever  employed  a  plumber  can  imagine  what  it  is  like.  But 
the  accusation  that  "making  work"  has  been  adopted  as  a 
system  by  unionism  in  general  and  that  trade-union  leaders 
encourage  it  I  maintain  is  not  proven,  and  moreover  it  is  not 
true.  Knowing  personally  some  of  the  trade-union  leaders  I 
most  certainly  accept  their  explicit  denials  on  the  subject;  they 
are  too  intelligent  to  adopt  deliberately  a  policy  which  must 
tend  to  general  degeneration.  No,  "ca'  canny,"  as  it  is  called, 
is  something  much  more  simple  than  the  Times  would  have  it  to 
be;  it  is  just  poor  human  nature,  or  the  vices  of  laziness  and 
ignorance,  from  which  employers  themselves  are  not  exempt. 
Let  us  imagine  the  position  of  the  trade-union  leader  and  its 
difficulties.  He  is  elected  to  specific  duties  which  mostly  con- 
cern the  relations  between  his  constituents  and  their  em- 
ployers. He  has  often  to  bargain  on  their  behalf  about  terms 
and  conditions  of  labor,  and  my  experience  is  that  he  is  gen- 
erally better  up  in  the  points  of  his  brief  than  are  his  opponents. 
When  the  fixing  of  wages  is  in  question  his  plain  duty  is  to 
secure  the  highest  price  for  their  labor.  Caveat  emptor.  It  is 
the  employer  on  whom  the  responsibility  rests  of  testing  the 
quality  of  the  article  he  buys. 

If  we  have  been  passed  in  the  race  of  industrial  efficiency  by 
America,  —  which  I  take  to  be  a  proved  fact  in  more  industries 
than  one,  —  the  trade  unions  are  not  to  blame.  For  one  thing 
their  power  is  absurdly  exaggerated,  and  more  so  by  the  weak 
employer  than  by  one  who  is  capable.  The  strongest  trade 
union  in  Great  Britain,  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers, 
went  down  before  the  combination  of  masters  who  were  con- 
tending for  a  point  of  efficiency.  Whenever  the  newspapers  of 


302         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

this  country  care  to  combine  in  earnest  to  secure  the  more 
efficient  working  of  linotype  machines,  a  point  on  which  I  have 
dwelt  above  at  some  length,  not  all  the  efforts  of  the  Typo- 
graphical Association  nor  the  London  Society  of  Compositors 
can  stand  in  the  way.  Nor  would  they  struggle  against  it. 
The  difficulty  in  this  matter  is  to  induce  employers  to  see  their 
common  interest.  In  America,  where  unionism  is  more  power- 
ful and  more  aggressive  than  here,  the  employers  as  a  class 
have  been  taught  to  combine  more  readily  on  emergency,  they 
aim  more  at  securing  efficiency  of  labor  and  less  at  low  money 
wages,  and  above  all  they  will  make  any  sacrifice  to  secure  the 
real  control  of  their  own  enterprises. 

On  the  contrary,  in  England  the  employers  are  in  compari- 
son apt  to  attach  too  much  importance  to  low  money  wages, 
they  are  lazy  in  resisting  small  encroachments  on  their  liberty 
which  may  later  on  become  a  dangerous  interference,  and  they 
are  much  slower  to  swallow  individual  jealousies  for  a  common 
purpose.  But  then  we  have  not  the  same  level  of  ability  to 
draw  upon  for  our  employing  class  here  as  in  the  newer  coun- 
try. The  capable  man  rising  from  below  has  much  greater 
difficulties  in  his  way,  difficulties  which  are  the  result  of  cen- 
turies of  prejudice  and  class  interests.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
best  of  the  brains  of  our  upper  classes  will  go  anywhere  but 
into  industry,  —  into  a  bank  or  a  merchant's  office  perhaps,  but 
not  into  horny-handed  manufacture.  The  attractions  of  digni- 
fied and  cultured  ease,  of  politics  or  the  learned  professions,  are 
too  dazzling  for  that  increasing  class  of  people,  those  with  small 
independent  means.  Besides,  our  university  and  other  higher 
education  is  not  yet  adjusted  to  the  new  importance  with  which 
industrial  needs  are  confronting  us.  The  older  universities, 
given  up  to  the  cultivation  of  the  most  refined  forms  of 
pleasure,  are  well  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  persons  born 
to  high  position.  But  such  are  few,  and  without  capital  or 
position  waiting  for  him  the  young  Oxford  or  Cambridge 
graduate  starts  in  business,  if  he  is  not  above  it,  in  ignorance 
of  two  or  three  elementary  lessons  which  the  office-trained 
boy  has  learned  at  nineteen,  such  as,  for  instance,  the  amount 


THE  CRISIS  IN  BRITISH  INDUSTRY  303 

of  concern  which  the  world  takes  in  the  fate  of  interesting 
young  men  between  twenty-three  and  thirty.  We  want  a 
university  training  for  the  modern  employer,  but  a  wasted  ten 
years  is  too  high  a  price  to  pay  for  it.  Every  year  the  older 
universities  carry  out  faithfully  their  grand  system  of  attract- 
ing, selecting,  and  sorting  out  the  best  of  the  young  talent  of 
England,  a  system  not  excelled  in  any  other  institution  or  set 
of  institutions  in  the  world.  The  best  are  sent  forward  to 
ambitious  careers.  A  large  number  who  are  not  needy  receive 
a  compensation  for  their  diminished  energy  in  a  greater  appre- 
ciation of  cultivated  pleasure.  But  every  year  a  goodly  propor- 
tion of  young  intellectual  England  sinks  back  into  a  disappointed 
obscurity.  And  all  the  while  what  the  industries  of  this  country 
need  are  brains  —  brains  and  trained  brains.  But  we  need  to 
train  the  brains  at  the  top  more  than  the  brains  at  the  bottom. 

G.   BlNNEY    DlBBLEE. 

MANCHESTER,  ENGLAND. 


THE   SYSTEM   OF  APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE 
BALDWIN   LOCOMOTIVE   WORKS1 

.  .  .  The  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  have  always  maintained 
a  system  of  apprenticeship.  ...  In  January,  1901,  however, 
a  new  system  was  inaugurated  in  which  the  apprentices  were 
divided  into  three  classes.  The  different  classes  and  require- 
ments are  shown  in  Diagram  i ;  the  horizontal  lines  represent 
the  number  of  apprentices  employed  and  the  vertical  lines  their 
age  and  occupation,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  : 

1.  First-class  apprentices,  of  whom  there  were  232  in  service  on 
January  i,  1904;  they  are  required  to  have  a  good  common-school 
education  and  are  not  to  be  over  17   years  and  3  months  of  age. 
They  are  indentured  for  four  years,  and  are  required  to  attend  a 
free  night  school  for  at  least  two  evenings  in  each  week  during  the 
first  three  years  of  the  apprenticeship.    The  first  year  the  apprentice 
is  expected  to  take  up  elementary  algebra  and  geometry,  and  the  rudi- 
ments of  mechanical  drawing  during  the  remainder  of  the  two  years. 

2.  Second-class  apprentices,  of  whom  there  were  99  in  service  on 
January  i,  1904.    Applications  for  indenture  in  this  class  are  con- 
sidered from  boys  who  have  an  advanced  grammar-  or  high-school 
training  and  who  are  not  over  18  years  of  age.    The  term  for  this 
class   is  three   years,   and   the   apprentices   are   required   to   attend 
night  school  which  shall  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  mechanical 
drawing  for  the  first  two  years  of  the  indenture. 

3.  Third-class  indenture  ;  this  is  in  the  form  of  an  agreement  with 
young  men  of  21  years  of  age  who  are  graduates  of  colleges,  tech- 
nical schools,  or  scientific  institutions  having  courses  in  the  higher 
mathematics,  natural  science,  and  drawing.    They  are  not  required 

1  From  the  Engineering  Magazine,  Vol.  XXVII,  1904,  pp.  321-333.  See  also 
"  Trade  and  Technical  Education,"  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Com- 
missioner of  Labor,  1902. 

304 


APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE  BALDWIN  WORKS 


305 


DIAGRAM  i.     CLASSES  AND  REQUIREMENTS  OF  APPRENTICES, 
BALDWIN  LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS 


Age 

First  Class,  237  Boys 

Second  Class,  99 

Third  Class,  48 

Ass't  Foremen, 

Foremen,  and 

Executive  Staff 

24 

Mechanics 

Contractors 

23 

and 
Gang  Foremen 

and 
Subforemen 

Workshop 

22 

21 

University 

or 

2O 

Me- 

19 

Workshop 

Night       chan- 
School        ical 
Two       Draw- 
Evenings     ing 
per 

Workshop        Night 

School 
for 
Drawing 

Technical 
School 

0 

Week       %   g 

lo 

J»  8 

IJ 

High 

High 

16 

Grammar 

School 

School 

Schools 

15 

Grammar 

Grammar 

'3 

Schools 

School 

12 
II 

. 

Primary 

IO 

Schools 

Primary 

Primary 

9 

Schools 

School 

8 

6 

306         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


to  attend  any  night  classes,  but  in  lieu  of  this  must  read  some  tech- 
nical journal  and  turn  in  a  synopsis  of  all  the  articles  of  some  jour- 
nal. This  matter  is  used  for  indexing  the  articles  in  the  publication. 
The  indenture  in  each  case  places  upon  the  firm  the  obligation  to 
teach  the  apprentice  his  art  thoroughly  and  to  furnish  him  abundant 
opportunity  to  acquire  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  business.  The 
employer  is  also  bound  to  retain  the  apprentice  in  service  until  he 
has  completed  the  term  provided  for  in  the  indenture,  with  the 
reservation  of  the  right  to  dismiss  the  apprentice  for  cause. 

DIAGRAM  2.     RATES  OF  PAY  OF  APPRENTICES,  BALDWIN 
LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS 


First  Class 

Second  Class 

Third  Class 

^ 

^T 
rt 

5, 

to 

Planer 
Planer 
Shaper 
Shaper 

•®^ 
t^ 

rt 
£ 

C/3 

Shaper 
Planer 
Lathe 
Bench  Work 

i  st  six  months 
13^ 

Lathe 
Bench  Work 

^ 

r^ 

<& 
§, 

T3 

M 

Slotter 
Bench  Work 
Bench  Work 
Lathe 

fc 

(-T 
rt 
<u 
>> 

-a 
n 

Planer 
Boring  Mill 
Bench  Work 
Bench  Work 

2d  six  months 
Ify 

Planer 
Shaper 
Highway  Office 

•^ 

<3\ 

\ 
>, 

$ 

Test  Room 
Planer 
Shaper 
Erecting  Gang 

^ 
jj~ 

ctf 

& 
•& 

Boring  Cylinders 
Planing  Cylinders 
Erecting  Gang 
Erecting  Gang 

3d  six  months 
18^ 

Test  Department 
Valve  Gang 

•^ 

£ 
& 

& 

,*) 
Tt 

Erecting 
Brass  Work  in 
Erecting  Shop 
Throttle  Gang 
Valve  Gang 

4th  six  months 
20? 

Erecting  Gang 
Track  Foreman 

Bonus     $125 

$100 

The  rates  of  pay  are  shown  in  Diagram  2  ;  this  diagram  also 
shows  how  well  the  works  discharge  the  obligation  to  the 
apprentice,  for  these  statements  have  been  compiled  from 
actual  cases  and  show  the  work  upon  which  the  apprentices 
are  engaged  for  each  three  months  of  service.  ...  It  will 


APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE  BALDWIN  WORKS      307 

be  seen  that  the  apprentices  are  changed  every  three  months, 
and  the  first-year  apprentice  is  given  experience  of  such  an 
extended  character  as  to  make  him  a  first-class  and  thorough 
mechanic.  At  the  end  of  his  service  he  is  given  a  bonus  of 
$125;  he  is  then  at  liberty  to  sever  his  connection  with  the 
works  and  has  the  means  of  traveling  'halfway  across  the  con- 
tinent in  search  of  a  job  satisfactory  to  him. 

It  will  be  seen,  as  shown  in  Diagram  I,  that  the  course  for 
the  first-class  apprentices  is  designed  to  develop  first-class 
mechanics  and  men  for  positions  of  minor  responsibility ;  the 
object  of  the  course  for  the  second  class  is  to  develop  men  for 
the  positions  of  contractors  and  subforemen;  and  the  assistant 
foremen,  foremen,  and  executive  staff  are  developed  from  the 
third  class  of  apprentices,  although  no  limitation  is  placed  upon 
the  height  to  which  any  class  of  apprentice  may  aspire  or  rise, 
and  the  first  class  of  apprentices  may  and  do  rise  to  places  of 
higher  responsibility  than  those  held  by  the  third  class. 

It  is  very  essential  that  men  holding  positions  of  responsi- 
bility should  acquire  a  habit  of  making  observations  and  keep- 
ing record  of  them,  and  in  this  manner  develop  habits  which 
will  prove  very  valuable  to  them  when  asked  to  look  after  the 
work  of  several  men  or  the  material  required  for  a  gang  or  shop. 
In  order  to  systematize  this  work  a  form  is  provided  for  the 
second  and  third  class  of  apprentices  which  each  is  required  to 
fill  in.  This  form  contains  all  the  data  necessary  to  establish 
piecework  prices.  The  better  class  of  apprentices  is  thus  or- 
ganized into  an  elemental  rate-fixing  department,  and  informa- 
tion is  secured  from  which  can  be  obtained  a  very  accurate 
estimate  of  the  cost  of  labor  or  of  any  piece  of  work.  The 
superintendent  of  apprentices  also  secures  a  very  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  work  being  done  by  each  apprentice  and  a 
means  for  comparing  the  work  of  the  different  apprentices. 

The  management  carefully  guard  against  any  tendency 
toward  paternalism,  in  an  effort  to  bring  out  the  individual 
qualities  of  the  apprentices,  and  with  the  belief  that  the  appren- 
tices will  develop  into  better  and  stronger  men  if  they  are  com- 
pelled to  rely  upon  their  own  resources.  There  are  no  special 


308         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


Shop 

Forem; 

MACHINE  INSPE 
in  Machine.... 
Class  of  Work.... 

No 
CTION 

No.            Date 

Contractor 

Card  

Material 

.Engine  

Operation 

Size 
of  Tool 

R.P.M. 

Feed 

Depth 
of  Cut 

Speed 

Total 
Time 

Average 
Time 

Minimum 
Time 

Remarks  : 
Tool  steel  used                                       Appren 

tice  

lectures  and  no  clubs  or  social  features;  the  blue  overalls  level 
all  social  distinction  ;  princes  and  sons  of  men  of  wealth  work 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  those  less  favored,  and  it  is  such  an 
everyday  experience  as  to  call  for  no  comment. 

Since  January  i,  1901,  at  which  time  the  present  system 
of  apprenticeship  was  inaugurated  under  the  supervision  of 
Mr.  N.  W.  Sample,  there  have  been  indentured  545  appren- 
tices,—  352  first-class,  124  second-class,  and  69  third-class.  Of 
this  number  153,  or  about  28  per  cent,  have  been  discharged 
for  reasons  other  than  expiration  of  their  terms  of  apprentice- 
ship. The  total  number  of  apprentices  carried  on  the  shop  rolls 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1903  was  379,  of  which  number  345 
are  machinists,  5  blacksmiths,  5  brass  finishers,  10  molders,  12 


APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE  BALDWIN  WORKS      309 

pattern  makers,  i  boiler  maker,  and  i  sheet-iron  worker.  There 
are  232  first-class,  99  second-class,  and  48  third-class. 

In  addition  to  indentured  apprentices  there  are  23  special 
apprentices,  largely  from  foreign  countries,  one  being  a  native 
of  Finland,  one  of  Costa  Rica,  two  of  San  Domingo,  five  of 
Cuba,  one  of  Spain,  four  of  Japan,  three  of  Porto  Rico,  and  one 
of  Mexico. 

The  number  of  apprentices  indentured  during  the  year  1903 
was  165  ;  of  this  number  156  were  indentured  to  the  machinists' 
trade,  5  to  the  trade  of  pattern  making,  I  to  brass  finishing, 
i  to  molding,  and  i  to  boiler  making.  There  are  97  first-class, 
40  second-class,  and  28  third-class.  There  have  been  61  appren- 
tices discharged  during  the  year  and  13  dropped  from  the  rolls 
by  reason  of  expiration  of  apprenticeship. 

Two  apprentices  in  the  first  class  completed  their  terms 
during  the  year.  Both  are  exceptionally  good  hands  and  at 
the  expiration  of  their  time  were  employed  as  machinists. 
Eleven  apprentices  in  the  third  class  completed  their  terms 
during  the  year;  six  of  this  number  have  been  promoted  to 
places  of  responsibility  in  the  erecting  and  machine  shops  and 
in  the  maintenance  department ;  five  others  are  employed  as 
machinists  in  the  erecting  shop. 

During  the  year  1904  15  first-class,  31  second-class,  and  19 
third-class  apprentices  will  complete  their  terms  of  apprentice- 
ship. The  attendance  of  the  apprentices  at  the  second  term  of 
the  school  year,  commencing  January  5  and  ending  February  25, 
1903,  was  63  per  cent  of  all  the  first-class  and  second-class  boys 
on  the  rolls  at  the  opening  of  the  term,  and  it  is  expected  that 
the  percentage  of  attendance  for  the  present  year  will  be  even 
greater. 

These  figures  show  that  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  are 
doing  their  share  to  prevent  "race  suicide"  of  the  trades 
worked  upon  in  their  establishment.  It  will  also  be  seen  that 
the  plan  is  not  altogether  a  philanthropic  one,  for  the  incor- 
poration of  the  several  features  mentioned  before  makes  the 
system  self-supporting.  The  chief  advantage,  however,  is  the 
development  of  a  loyal,  brainy  set  of  men  with  a  thorough 


3io 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


training  in  the  mechanic  arts  and  especially  developed  in  cer- 
tain lines.  Those  of  them  that  remain  will  lend  their  energy  to 
assisting  and  building  up  the  business  of  their  employers,  and 
they  are  just  as  proud  of  the  works  and  their  accomplishments 
and  just  as  jealous  of  their  reputation  as  the  proprietors  them- 
selves, for  they  consider  themselves  the  children  of  the  works. 
The  manufacturing  plant  that  has  a  loyal,  intelligent  body  of 
workmen  who  make  their  employers'  interest  their  own,  has 
the  very  best  equipment  for  meeting  the  strenuous  competi- 
tion  of  the  present  day.  g  M  VAUCLAIN 

From  Proceedings  of  the  Engineers'  Club  of  Philadelphia, 
Vol.  XIX,  January,  1902,  pp.  60-64.  Remarks  by  Mr. 
Vauclain,  answering  inquiries. 

...  In  handling  several  thousand  apprentice  boys  it  became 
apparent  to  me  that  no  matter  how  well  the  apprentice  was  taught 
in  the  workshops,  or  how  much  he  was  encouraged  to  go  to  the  vari- 
ous night  schools  in  our  city,  such  as  the  Franklin  or  Spring  Garden 
Institute,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Drexel,  or  others 
for  the  technical  part  of  his  education,  we  found  that  he  desired 
something  to  show  that  he  had  learned  the  art  or  that  he  had  served 
a  specific  time  at  this  art.  In  other  words,  he  was  just  as  anxious  to 
get  his  diploma  as  the  young  man  who  graduates  from  the  university, 
or  from  Sibley  or  Stevens,  or  some  such  institution,  and  in  my  opin- 
ion was  just  as  much  entitled  to  it.  It  also  became  apparent  to  me 
that  if  we  were  to  remain  successful  in  competition  with  the  world 
we  should  have  to  get  to  work  at  once  and  systematically  educate  our 
apprentices  not  only  in  so  far  as  the  handicraft  is  concerned,  but  so 
that  they  should  have  a  certain  amount  of  technical  knowledge  to  go 
with  it,  and  that  this  technical  knowledge  should  go  hand  in  hand 
with  the  manual  training  that  they  were  receiving  in  the  shops. 
Very  naturally  the  thought  occurred  to  me,  "  What  are  we  going  to 
do  with  the  great  unwashed, — the  boys  who  cannot  go  to  school, 
the  boys  who  are  turned  out  of  the  grammar  schools  perhaps  before 
they  have  barely  entered  them  ?  "  The  parents  must  put  these  boys 
to  work,  and,  fortunately  for  us,  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania  relieve  us 
of  this  mass  of  humanity  —  poorly  trained  and  poorly  educated,  and 
whose  parents  have  no  thought  in  placing  them  at  work  but  the 


APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE  BALDWIN  WORKS      3 1 1 

greed  of  gain.  The  law  allows  the  employment  of  any  boy  under 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  over  thirteen  only  when  his  parents  go 
before  a  magistrate  and  get  a  permit ;  consequently  we  are  able  to 
keep  out  of  our  workshops  all  boys  under  sixteen,  except  those  who 
are  the  sons  of  widows  and  who  must  have  employment  somewhere. 
These  boys  we  employ  as  messengers,  and  keep  them  and  train  them 
and  bring  them  along  until  such  time  as  we  can  put  them  to  a  trade. 
Our  idea  in  establishing  three  grades  of  apprentices  was  to  take  care 
of  the  three  grades  of  boys  that  come  to  us.  First,  the  boys  of  the 
masses,  —  the  boys  of  ordinary  education,  very  ordinary  education 
indeed  ;  these  boys  we  compel  to  remain  with  us  four  years.  We 
require  that  they  shall  go  outside  at  night  to  some  of  the  many  night 
schools  and  take  a  one  year's  course  in  elementary  geometry  and  alge- 
bra in  order  to  get  a  slight  knowledge  of  these  subjects.  The  second 
and  third  years  they  must  attend  drawing  school.  They  must  take  a  two 
years'  course  in  drawing  outside  of  the  workshops.  At  the  expiration 
of  the  four  years  we  give  these  boys  a  bonus  and  we  discharge  them 
from  our  employ.  They  get  a  diploma  —  their  indenture  is  their 
diploma ;  their  bonus  is  their  reward  and  the  wherewith  to  go  else- 
where and  seek  employment.  Now,  the  high-school  boys  are  well- 
educated  boys.  I  defy  any  young  men  of  eighteen  to  go  before  an 
employer  with  a  better  education  than  these  boys  who  come  to  us 
from  our  Philadelphia  High  School.  They  have  a  good  knowledge  of 
geometry  and  many  of  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics ;  they  know 
something  of  mechanical  drawing,  enough  to  go  on  with  the  work. 
Therefore  we  omit  with  such  boys  the  preliminary  course  in  elementary 
algebra  and  geometry  and  we  prescribe  that  for  two  years  they  must 
attend  night  school  in  mechanical  drawing  in  order  to  perfect  them- 
selves,—  in  order  to  learn  to  express  their  thoughts  upon  paper  as 
they  absorb  ideas  in  the  workshop.  We  also  give  such  young  men  a 
bonus,  and  we  require  only  three  years  of  service  from  them  on  account 
of  the  superior  education  they  have  when  they  come  to  us.  The 
superior  education  enables  us  more  quickly  to  grasp  the  needs, — the 
place  to  put  them,  —  and  they  absorb  more  or  less  readily  the  instruc- 
tions given  them  from  their  immediate  superiors  through  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  shop.  The  bonus  these  young  men  get  is  $100  in  place 
of  the  $125  of  their  more  unskilled  companions.  This  $100  we  think  is 
sufficient  to  enable  them  to  go  elsewhere  and  secure  employment,  and 
we  are  never  ashamed  to  let  one  of  these  apprentices  go  for  that.  He 
always  shows  up  well.  The  third  man  to  take  care  of  is  the  graduate 
of  our  universities,  the  ordinary  mechanical  engineer  who  comes  to  us 


3I2 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


not  quite  so  green  as  grass  so  far  as  mechanical  handicraft  is  con- 
cerned. He  is  willing  to  get  down  to  the  hardest  work  we  have  in  our 
shop,  and  he  works  at  it  like  a  steam  engine.  He  has  all  the  technical 
knowledge  that  is  necessary.  He  has  it,  but  he  does  not  know  how 
to  use  it.  We  encourage  him  in  this  manner :  We  cannot  indenture 
him,  being  a  man,  but  we  make  a  specific  contract  with  him  for  two 
years  and  pay  him  enough  to  keep  body  and  soul  together.  We  give 
him  thirteen  cents  an  hour  for  the  first  year,  sixteen  cents  an  hour  for 
the  second  year,  and  a  clean  certificate  at  the  end  of  that  time.  We 
have  not  had  a  man  of  that  description  for  that  length  of  time  who 
has  not  been  lifted  out  of  the  position  he  had  contracted  for  and  who 
is  not  enjoying  a  very  much  more  remunerative  position  and  one  in  the 
line  of  promotion.  It  is  from  these  men  that  we  must  fill  the  superior 
offices  in  our  workshop,  and  these  boys  we  promote.  The  man  or 
boy  who  has  determined  to  get  to  the  top  and  will  burn  his  candle 
at  night  to  gain  the  knowledge  that  his  more  favored  companion  has 
received  in  a  better  institution  of  learning  than  he  has  attended 
also  gains  his  reward.  The  third  boy  we  must  have  to  fill  the  ordi- 
nary ranks  in  the  workshops,  and  the  better  educated  we  can  have 
the  ordinary  rank  and  file  in  our  workshops  the  better  chance  we 
will  have  of  competing  with  foreign  manufacturers  and  the  better 
chance  we  will  have  of  extending  the  markets  of  American  manufac- 
tures throughout  the  world ;  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  we  can  do  so. 
You  have  asked  me  why  we  can  afford  to  do  this,  —  why  we  can 
afford  to  turn  away  from  the  doors  every  year  several  hundred  young 
men.  We  do  not  expect  to  keep  them  all.  We  will  keep  the  better 
ones  that  we  come  across  from  time  to  time.  We  promote  them  so 
that  their  ambition  will  permit  them  to  stay  with  us.  Have  you  not 
already  seen  the  point  ?  Every  one  of  these  men  that  go  forth  from 
an  establishment  of  this  kind  will  sing  its  praises  forever.  They 
will  shout  just  as  lustily  for  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  as  they 
have  done  for  Yale,  Harvard,  or  the  university,  or  any  other  institu- 
tion they  have  left.  You  will  have  an  advertising  medium  that  can- 
not be  surpassed  by  anything ;  and  further  than  that,  you  will  have 
established  in  your  own  workshop  a  set  of  men  that  will  be  invalu- 
able, that  you  can  never  hire  in  the  open  market.  When  I  hear  a 
manager  say  he  has  had  so.  many  men  call  in  his  efforts  to  secure  a 
foreman,  he  has  tried  and  tried  to  get  certain  men  to  do  certain  work 
and  failed,  I  pity  that  man.  That  man  has  not  the  courage  to  go 
down  in  his  pocket  and  labor  for  a  few  years  to  train  men  to  fill 
these  positions,  and  if  you  can  put  out  your  coin,  if  you  have  the 


APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE  BALDWIN  WORKS 


313 


small  courage  to  hand  it  over  to  these  young  men,  you  will  get  it 
back  tenfold  before  you  know  where  you  are. 

Q.  —  I  should  like  to  ask  Mr.  Vauclain  to  what  extent  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  apprentice  is  conducted  under  the  direct  supervision  of 
the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works. 

MR.  VAUCLAIN.  —  The  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  do  not  intend 
to  give  night  instruction.  They  do  not  intend  to  impart  the  tech- 
nical knowledge.  We  depend  upon  the  various  night  schools  estab- 
lished throughout  the  city,  and  we  pray  for  the  establishment  of  more 
and  better  night  schools  to  give  instruction  for  that  portion  of  the 
training  of  the  apprentices.  The  manufacturer  has  the  commercial 
side  of  the  question  to  deal  with.  He  can  impart  the  commercial 
side  of  the  business  in  connection  with  the  technical  training.  He 
must  be  a  manual  student  commercially.  He  must  be  able  to  make 
that  work  pay.  He  must  be  able  to  get  it  out  for  a  certain  sum  of 
money,  and  he  must  be  able  to  get  it  out  well  for  that  money,  because 
the  better  his  product  is  the  more  work  will  come  into  that  workshop; 
therefore,  if  the  foremen,  or  the  superintendents,  or  the  owners,  or 
the  managers  of  these  manufacturing  institutions  will  give  their 
time  and  attention  to  the  handicraft,  the  manual  training,  they  cer- 
tainly should  expect  to  get  the  technical  portion  of  the  training  of 
their  students  outside.  Now,  in  order  to  make  a  scheme  of  this  sort 
successful,  one  must  make  a  business  of  it.  You  cannot  hand  these 
boys  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a  foreman,  because  it  is  not  one 
out  of  fifty  who  can  take  a  boy  and  who  can  say  to  himself,  "  That 
boy  is  perfect  on  that  work ;  here,  give  him  another  planer ;  there  is 
no  use  keeping  that  boy  on  that  work  any  longer."  No,  he  will  keep 
him  there  until  the  superintendent  says,  "  You  must  not  keep  that 
boy  there  any  longer;  you  are  doing  him  an  injustice."  In  order  to 
avoid  such  a  condition  of  affairs  I  felt  that  we  should  have  a  super- 
intendent of  apprentices,  a  man  whose  business  should  be  to  look 
after  the  apprentices  not  only  in  the  shop  but  out  of  the  shop,  a  man 
who  would  see  that  they  are  taken  care  of  and  that  the  foreman  does 
not  take  advantage  of  them,  but  that  as  fast  as  a  boy  learns  he  is 
pushed  along.  We  hire  him  for  what  he  learns  from  us  for  the  future, 
and  we  must  have  that  boy  pushed  along  so  that  he  can  learn,  so  that 
he  can  absorb*everything  that  is  capable  of  being  absorbed  in  that  shop. 
If  he  is  not  capable  of  being  pushed  along  so  fast,  he  is  pushed  along 
slowly  and  more  care  is  taken  of  him.  We  do  not  want  to  allow  that 
boy  to  sink  down  into  disappointed  youth.  We  just  want  him,  when 
he  is  twenty-one,  to  be  able  to  work  and  to  go  on  and  keep  on  working 


314        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

with  irresistible  energy.  Now,  this  superintendent  of  apprentices 
must  do  that  work,  and  he  must  further  see  that  the  boy  carries 
out  his  side  of  the  contract,  —  that  he  attends  these  night  schools. 
He  must  see  where  he  goes;  he  must  examine  into  the  matter;  he 
must  see  the  boy's  teacher  or  professor  and  he  must  report  upon  his 
progress,  so  that  we  can  form  a  determination  of  the  value  of  this 
apprentice  from  a  technical  standpoint.  We  find  it  very  difficult  to 
provide  for  a  certain  branch  of  this  work,  but  great  effort  is  being 
made  to  carry  it  on  for  any  number  of  boys.  The  public  schools  are 
taking  an  interest ;  everybody  will  take  an  interest  in  it  after  a  while, 
when  it  becomes  known.  It  is  the  right  policy,  if  we  can  only  interest 
manufacturers  to  establish  a  system  of  this  kind.  All  those  interested 
will  find  all  they  can  do  to  keep  up  with  the  other  end  of  the  busi- 
ness if  the  manufacturer  will  take  care  of  the  handicraft ;  and  until 
that  time  does  come,  if  we  cannot  obtain  the  technical  education  for 
these  young  men  outside  at  night,  as  we  should,  the  only  thing  to  do 
is  to  establish  an  educational  institution  of  our  own  and  take  these 
boys  so  many  hours  from  work  and  say,  You  must  go  there  and 
receive  it.  Insist  upon  it.  It  does  n't  cost  much.  You  can  get  a  good 
educator  for  $3000  a  year,  and  what  is  $3000  when  you*  divide  it  up 
among  a  thousand  boys  ?  Three  dollars  for  each  boy ;  and  if  those 
boys  are  worth  anything  they  will  not  only  earn  their  wages  but  they 
will  earn  a  great  deal  more.  They  will  earn  the  money  you  might 
spend  upon  their  education,  and  in  the  years  to  come  they  will  be 
grateful  for  the  trouble  you  have  taken  to  make  better  men  of  them. 

Q.  —  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Vauclain  if  he  can  say  whether  or 
not,  taking  the  last  six  months  of  the  work  of  the  three  grades,  the 
high  school  or  the  university  men  show  a  decided  advantage  and 
adaptability  with  tools  and  otherwise  over  the  other  class  that  lack, 
education. 

MR.  VAUCLAIN. — That  goes  without  question.  The  better  edu- 
cated a  young  man  is  the  better  his  work  is  all  the  way  through ; 
that  is,  I  am  speaking  of  them  as  a  whole,  as  an  entirety.  You 
occasionally  find  a  young  man  who  has  had  no  chances  when  he  was 
young,  —  a  boy  that  we  have  taken  in,  perhaps,  as  an  errand  boy, 
whom  we  have  brought  along  and  raised  by  common  education. 
The  foremen  give  him  a  book  on  arithmetic  and  the^  let  him  work 
problems  in  his  spare  time.  The  clerks  in  the  office  teach  him  how 
to  handle  figures,  and  in  that  way  he  gets  some  education  before  he 
is  apprenticed;  when  he  gets  apprenticed  he  wants  to  know  more. 
He  goes  to  the  Spring  Garden  Institute  and  he  learns  how  to  put  his 


APPRENTICESHIP  AT  THE  BALDWIN  WORKS       315 

thoughts  on  paper.  He  will  ask  you  enough  questions  to  set  you 
crazy.  That  is  one  of  the  boys  that  you  cannot  keep  down,  and  his 
work  of  the  fourth  year  will  shine  alongside  the  work  of  the  more 
educated  person.  He  is  not  the  man  the  more  educated  person  is, 
and  he  realizes  it  and  absorbs  all  he  can  from  him.  He  listens  and 
profits  by  what  this  man  is  willing  to  give  him.  One  of  the  greatest 
things  in  the  success  of  a  young  man  is  his  ability  to  handle  men, 
and  unless  he  has  that  ability  he  is  next  to  worthless  as  a  manager. 
In  this  connection  we  try  to  give  as  many  of  our  young  men  as 
show  any  capacity  whatever  for  handling  nusn  an  opportunity  to 
improve.  As  soon  as  we  perceive  they  can  handle  two  or  three  men 
we  give  them  the  opportunity,  and  we  increase  the  number  and  are 
glad  to  increase  it,  because  we  have  vacant  places  waiting  at  the 
top  for  men  who  can  fill  these  positions;  until  then  we  have  to  fill 
them  from  the  few  we  hire  from  the  outside. 


XIV 

THE  SWEATING  SYSTEM   IN  THE  CLOTHING 
TRADE1 

The  term  " sweating,"  or  "sweating  system,"  originally  de- 
noted a  system  of  subcontract,  wherein  the  work  is  let  out  to 
contractors  to  be  done  in  small  shops  or  homes.  "  In  practice," 
says  the  report  of  the  Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,2 
"  sweating  consists  of  the  farming  out  by  competing  manufac- 
turers to  competing  contractors  of  the  material  for  garments, 
which  in  turn  is  distributed  among  competing  men  and  women 
to  be  made  up." 

The  system  to  be  contrasted  with  the  sweating  system  is  the 
"factory  system,"  wherein  the  manufacturer3  employs  his  own 
workmen,  under  the  management  of  his  own  foreman  or  super- 
intendent, in  his  own  building,  with  steam,  electric,  or  water 
power.  In  the  sweating  system  the  foreman  becomes  a 

1  From  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  XV,  1901,  pp.  319-352. 

2  Report  of  the  Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1892,  p.  358. 

8  The  term  "  manufacturer  "  in  the  clothing  trade  has  a  peculiar  significance. 
It  means  the  wholesale  merchant,  or  warehouseman.  The  exact  designation  would 
be  "  merchant  manufacturer."  Such  a  manufacturer  usually  has  -an  "  inside  shop  " 
and  several  "  outside  shops."  The  inside  shop  is  usually  on  the  manufacturer's 
own  premises,  and  includes  the  cutters  who  cut  the  cloth  for  the  contractors,  the 
examiners  who  inspect  the  garments  on  their  return,  and  the  "bushelmen"  who 
repair  and  reshape  the  garments  if  necessary. 

The  "  outside  shops  "  are  the  shops  of  contractors  who  take  the  goods  out  from 
the  manufacturer  for  stitching  and  finishing.  If  the  manufacturer  does  his  own 
work  directly  under  a  superintendent  or  foreman,  instead  of  indirectly  through  a 
contractor,  this  shop  also  is  known  as  an  "inside  shop."  Workmen  employed  by 
a  contractor  often  speak  of  themselves  as  employed  by  the  manufacturer  who 
furnishes  the  work  to  the  contractor.  Since  the  manufacturer  sets  the  contract 
price,  it  might  almost  be  said  that  the  contractor  is  really  the  manufacturer's  fore- 
man, who  takes  the  responsibility  of  finding  help,  doing  the  work,  and  making 
such  wages  of  management  as  he  can  at  the  price  set  by  the  manufacturer. 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     317 

contractor,  with  his  own  small  shop  and  foot-power  machine. 
In  the  factory  system  the  workmen  are  congregated  where  they 
can  be  seen  by  the  factory  inspectors  and  where  they  can 
organize  or  develop  a  common  understanding.  In  the  sweating 
system  they  are  isolated  and  unknown. 

The  sweating  system  has  undergone  significant  changes  dur- 
ing the  past  fifty  years.  The  early  part  of  the  last  century,  when 
the  term  seems  to  have  originated  in  England,  it  applied  to 
ready-made  new  clothing  in  the  form  of  army  clothing  given 
out  to  contractors.  At  that  time  each  tailor  usually  made  the 
entire  coat  at  home.  The  manufacturer  of  ready-made  clothing 
and  army  clothing  would  give  his  work  to  a  contractor  who  was 
a  responsible  -party,  usually  not  a  tailor  himself.  This  con- 
tractor would  then  give  the  work  to  some  man  who  kept  a 
tailors'  boarding  house  or  a  saloon  where  the  tailors  were 
accustomed  to  come  together.  This  boarding-house  keeper  or 
saloon  keeper  was  a  subcontractor,  though  not  a  tailor.  He  in 
turn  would  give  this  work  out  to  the  individual  tailors  whom 
he  personally  knew,  who  were  responsible  for  the  work.  The 
money  received  by  these  subcontractors  for  their  part  was  called 
"sweat  money,"  implying  that  their  profit  was  the  difference 
between  the  price  they  received  from  the  manufacturer  or  con- 
tractor and  the  price  paid  to  the  tailor  for  making  the  garment, 
and  that  they  invested  no  labor  in  the  transaction. 

There  was  an  agitation  in  the  United  States  in  the  early 
fifties  against  this  system  because  of  the  low  condition  of  the 
tailors.  They  worked  for  very  low  wages  and  many  of  them 
were  unemployed  much  of  the  time.  The  work  used  to  be 
made  between  seasons  for  one  third  and  one  fourth  of  the 
regular  price. 

In  the  sixties  the  influx  of  the  Russian  Jews  into  the  ready- 
made  clothing  trade,  replacing  the  native  and  Irish  tailors, 
began  to  be  felt.  Here  the  incursion  of  the  foreigner  seems  to 
have  been  irresistible.  His  success  was  not  always  due  to  the 
lower  wages  he  was  willing  to  take,  for  he  was  competing  with 
the  outcasts  of  the  English  tailoring  trade,  the  unskilled  English- 
woman and  the  wretched  and  often  imported  Irishman,  whose 


318         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

wages  were  as  low  as  the  contractor  was  willing  to  pay.  But 
the  success  of  the  immigrant  was  due  to  his  willingness  to  change 
the  mode  of  production  by  using  the  sewing  machine  and  divi- 
sion of  labor,  against  which  the  native  tailor  showed  a  decided 
aversion.  Here  the  influx  of  the  foreign  Jew  has  wrought  a 
complete  change  in  the  contract  system.  The  old  contractor 
was  a  mere  middleman  and  had  no  need  for  any  knowledge  of 
the  tailoring  trade ;  he  was  generally  a  lodging-house  keeper,  who 
secured  the  work  by  giving  a  cash  deposit  for  the  goods  he  took 
from  the  manufacturer  and  distributed  among  the  wretched 
tailors  in  the  lodging  house  and  the  helpless  women  in  his 
vicinity,  who  completed  the  whole  garment.  He  was  replaced 
by  the  Jewish  contractor,  who  made  his  work  in  a  shop.  This 
Jewish  contractor  was  not  a  mere  middleman  ;  he  was  neces- 
sarily a  tailor  and  an  organizer  of  labor,  for  his  work  was  done 
by  a  system  of  division  of  labor  calling  for  various  grades  and 
forms  of  skill,  namely,  the  baster,  machinist,  and  presser,  with 
various  subdivisions,  such  as  fitter,  busheler,  finisher,  button- 
hole maker,  feller,  basting  puller,  etc. 

The  position  of  the  contractor  or  sweater  now  in  the  business 
in  American  cities  is  peculiarly  that  of  an  organizer  and 
employer  of  immigrants.  The  man  best  fitted  to  be  a  contractor 
is  the  man  who  is  well  acquainted  with  his  neighbors,  who  is 
able  to  speak  the  languages  of  several  classes  of  immigrants,  who 
can  easily  persuade  his  neighbors  or  their  wives  and  children 
to  work  for  him,  and  who  in  this  way  can  obtain  the  cheapest 
help.  The  contractor  can  increase  the  number  of  people 
employed  in  the  trade  at  very  short  notice.  During  the  busy 
season,  when  the  work  doubles,  the  number  of  people  employed 
increases  in  the  same  proportion.  All  the  contractors  are 
agents  and  go  around  among  the  people.  Housewives,  who 
formerly  worked  at  the  trade  and  abandoned  it  after  marriage, 
are  called  into  service  for  an  increased  price  of  a  dollar  or  two 
a  week.  Men  who  have  engaged  in  other  occupations,  such  as 
small  business  and  peddling,  and  are  out  of  the  business  most 
of  the  year,  are  marshaled  into  service  by  the  contractor,  who  ' 
knows  all  of  them  and  can  easily  look  them  up  and  put  them  in 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE    319 

as  competitors  by  offering  them  a  dollar  or  two  a  week  more 
than  they  are  getting  elsewhere.  It  is  the  contractor  who  has 
introduced  the  Italian  home  finishers  into  the  trade ;  he  has 
looked  them  up  and  taught  them  the  work  and  is  getting  it 
made  for  less  than  half  the  wages  that  he  formerly  paid  for  the 
same  work. 

The  contractor  never  has  at  one  time  a  large  amount  of  work. 
Through  him  the  industry  is  scattered  over  a  wide  area,  among 
all  kinds  of  people,  and  he  thrives  as  long  as  they  do  not  know 
one  another.  The  contractor  is  an  important  factor  in  ±he 
clannishness  of  the  immigrant  nationalities.  It  is  in  part  iwn^a., 
to  him  that  we  have  in  large  cities  the  Jewish  districts,  Polish 
districts,  Swedish  districts,  etc.,  with  very  little  assimilation. 
The  contractors  establish  their  shops  in  the  heart  of  the  district 
where  the  people  live,  and  since  they  can  practically  earn  their 
living  at  home,  they  have  no  opportunity  of  mingling  with 
others  or  of  learning  from  the  civilization  of  other  peoples. 

The  following  is  a  typical  case  :  A  Polish  Jew  in  Chicago,  at 
a  time  when  very  few  of  the  Poles  were  tailors,  opened  a  shop 
in  a  Polish  neighborhood.  He  lost  money  during  the  time  he 
was  teaching  the  people  the  trade,  but  finally  was  a  gainer. 
Before  he  opened  the  shop  he  studied  the  neighborhood  ;  he 
found  the  very  poorest  quarters  where  most  of  the  immigrant 
Poles  lived.  He  took  no  one  to  work  except  the  newly  arrived 
Polish  women  and  girls.  The  more  helpless  and  dependent  they 
were  the  more  sure  they  were  of  getting  work  from  him.  In 
speaking  about  his  plans  he  said,  "  It  will  take  these  girls  years 
to  learn  English  and  to  learn  how  to  go  about  and  find  work. 
In  that  way  I  will  be  able  to  get  their  labor  very  cheap."  His 
theory  turned  out  to  be  practical.  He  has  since  built  several 
tenement  houses. 

The  contractor  in  the  clothing  trade  is  largely  responsible  for 
the  primitive  mode  of  production,  —  for  the  foot-power  sewing 
machine,  for  the  shops  in  the  alleys,  in  the  attics,  on  top  floors, 
above  stables,  and  in  some  cases  in  the  homes  of  the  people. 
These  small  shops  are  able  on  account  of  low  rent  and  meager 
wages  to  compete  successfully,  although  with  foot  power, 


320 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


against  the  large  shops  and  factories  with  steam  or  electric  power. 
Usually  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  more  than  fifty  dollars  to 
start  a  shop  with  foot-power  machines.  As  there  is  no  invest- 
ment in  goods,  the  contractor  runs  no  risk.  Little  managing 
ability  is  required,  because  the  number  of  employees  is  small. 

The  unlimited  hours  of  work,  often  seven  days  in  the  week, 
is  a  feature  of  the  contracting  system.  The  contractor  himself 
works  unlimited  hours.  His  shop  is  open  most  of  the  time. 
He  deals  with  people  who  have  no  knowledge  of  regular  hours. 
He  keeps  them  in  the  dark  with  regard  to  the  prevailing  number 
of  hours  that  other  people  work. 

The  contractor  is  an  irresponsible  go-between  for  the  manu- 
facturer, who  is  the  original  employer.  He  has  no  connection 
with  the  business  interests  of  the  manufacturer  nor  is  his  inter- 
est that  of  his  help.  His  sphere  is  merely  that  of  a  middleman  ; 
he  is  practically  useless  in  a  large  factory.  He  holds  his  own 
mainly  because  of  his  ability  to  get  cheap  labor,  and  is  in  reality 
merely  the  agent  of  the  manufacturer  for  that  purpose.  In  this 
he  generally  succeeds,  because  he  lives  among  the  poorest  class 
of  people,  knows  them  personally,  and  knowing  their  circum- 
stances can  drive  the  hardest  kind  of  a  bargain.  A  very  large 
number  of  the  people  who  work  in  the  sewing  trade  for  con- 
tractors usually  hope  to  become  contractors  themselves.  When 
they  succeed  in  this  they  reduce  the  prices,  since  the  con- 
tractor when  he  first  takes  out  work  takes  it  for  less  money 
than  other  contractors. 

Usually  when  work  comes  to  the  contractor  from  the  manu- 
facturer and  is  offered  to  his  employees  for  a  smaller  price 
than  has  previously  been  paid,  the  help  will  remonstrate  and 
ask  to  be  paid  the  full  price.  Then  the  contractor  tells  them, 
"  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  price.  The  price  is  made  for  me 
by  the  manufacturer.  I  have  very  little  to  say  about  the  price." 
That  is,  he  cuts  himself  completely  loose  from  any  responsi- 
bility to  his  employees  as  to  how  much  they  are  to  get  for  their 
labor,  throwing  the  responsibility  on  the  manufacturer  who 
originally  gave  him  the  work.  The  help  do  not  know  the  manu- 
facturer. They  cannot  register  their  complaint  with  the  man 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     321 

who  made  the  price  for  their  labor.  The  contractor,  who  did  not 
make  the  price  for  their  labor,  claims  that  it  is  of  no  use  to 
complain  to  him.  So  that  however  much  the  price  for  labor 
goes  down  there  is  no  one  responsible  for  it. 

In  case  the  help  form  an  organization  and  send  a  committee 
to  the  manufacturer,  the  manufacturer  will  invaribly  say,  "  I  do 
not  employ  you  and  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  you  "  ;  and  when 
they  go  back  to  the  contractor  and  file  their  complaint,  he  will 
invariably  say,  "  I  am  not  making  the  price  for  your  labor.  I  am 
simply  paying  you  as  much  as  I  can  out  of  what  I  get  from  the 
manufacturer."  This  is  also  true  with  regard  to  any  agree- 
ments of  a  labor  organization  that  may  be  made.  If  an  agree- 
ment is  made  with  a  contractor,  it  is  usually  worthless,  because 
he  has  no  property  invested  that  can  be  levied  upon.  If  the 
agreement  is  made  with  the  manufacturer,  it  does  not  hold, 
because  he  is  not  violating  it.  In  this  irresponsible  state  of  the 
business  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  devise  any  way  in  which 
organizations  can  make  agreements  and  enforce  them. 

There  is  always  a  cut-throat  competition  among  contractors. 
A  contractor  feels  more  dependent  than  any  of  his  employees. 
He  is  always  speculating  on  the  idea  of  making  a  fortune  by 
getting  more  work  from  the  manufacturer  than  his  neighbor 
and  by  having  it  made  cheaper.  Usually  when  he  applies  for 
work  in  the  inside  shop  he  comes  in,  hat  in  hand,  very  much 
like  a  beggar.  He  seems  to  feel  the  utter  uselessness  of  his 
calling  in  the  business.  Oftentimes  the  contractor  is  forced  to 
send  work  back  because  he  cannot  make  it  under  the  condi- 
tions on  which  he  took  it,  yet  he  does  not  dare  to  refuse  the 
offer  for  fear  the  manufacturer  will  not  give  him  more  of  his 
work.  So  he  tries  to  figure  it  down  by  every  device,  and  yet, 
perhaps,  in  the  end  is  forced  to  send  it  back.  ^ 

The  contractor  is  always  speculating  on  what  is  coming  next 
in  the  busy  season,  and  sometimes  in  the  busy  season  he  can,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  save  some  money ;  but  this  is  only  for  a  short 
time.  The  most  of  the  year,  probably  for  about  nine  months, 
he  is  in  this  cut-throat  competition.  This  is  indeed  the  worst 
factor  in  the  trade. 


322 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


It  must  not  be  inferred  from  what  precedes  that  the  con- 
tractor is  the  cause  of  the  sweating  system,  or  that  the  sweat- 
ing system  is  identical  with  the  contract  system.  (/  Both  the 
contractor  and  the  sweating  system  are  the  product  of  a  dis- 
organized and  crowded  labor  market.  j/This  distinction  is  not 
apprehended  even  by  the  tailors'  unions,  who  direct  their  ener- 
gies mainly  to  the  abolition  of  the  contractor  instead  of  to  the 
abolition  of  the  conditions  which  produce  the  contractor.  The 
factory  system  itself  is  not  always  clearly  marked  off  from  the* 
contracting  system.  A  factory  foreman  may  send  work  out  at 
night  to  be  done  by  his  own  employees  at  their  homes.  A  fac- 
tory may  use  partly  mechanical  power  and  partly  foot  power. 
A  manufacturer  may  employ  subcontracting  within  the  factory. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  small  manufacturer  may  practice  the 
same  oppression  and  impose  the  same  insanitary  conditions  upon 
his  employees  as  would  be  done  by  a  contractor.  In  the  manu- 
facture of  cigars  the  "sweater"  is  not  a  contractor,  but  is  a 
manufacturer  who  buys  his  material  on  the  market  and  sells  his 
product  to  jobbers  or  regular  purchasers.  In  the  manufacture 
of  clothing  the  "sweater"  is  a  contractor  who  agrees  to  take 
out  material  owned  by  the  merchant  and  to  return  it  to  him  as  a 
finished  garment.  The  only  difference  is  that  in  the  cigar  busi- 
ness the  raw  material  is  owned  by  the  one  who  directly  employs 
the  labor,  while  in  the  clothing  business  the  raw  material  is  the 
property  of  the  merchant.  In  both  cases  the  labor  is  equally 
"sweated." 

The  futility  of  directing  the  energies  of  reform  solely  against 
the  contractor  may  be  seen  in  New  York  in  one  branch  of  the 
clothing  trade,  that  of  ladies'  ready-made  garments,  including 
cloaks  and  so-called  "tailor-made  suits."  Already  in  this  line 
of  manufacture  fujly  75  per  cent  of  the  product  has  passed  out 
of  the  hands  of  contractors  into  those  of  "manufacturers." 
Ten  years  ago  probably  90  per  cent  of  women's  clothing  was 
made  by  people  who  worked  for  contractors,  while  now  only 
about  25  per  cent  of  the  trade  are  working  for  contractors. 
But  so  far  as  the  people  employed  in  the  business  are  con- 
cerned there  has  not  been  any  material  change  for  the  better, 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     323 

since  these  small  manufacturers  retain  all  the  abuses  of  long 
hours,  small  pay,  and  insanitary  shops.  The  way  in  which  this 
new  class  of  manufacturers  has  arisen  in  the  clothing  trade  and 
has  driven  out  of  business  the  large  manufacturer  on  Broadway 
who  sent  his  work  out  to  contractors  is  one  of  the  remarkable 
developments  of  this  remarkable  trade.  These  former  large 
manufacturers  who  have  abandoned  the  ready-made  business 
have  gone  into  the  retail  or  custom  trade  and  have  set  up  model 
"  inside  "  factories  on  Broadway,  where  they  cater  to  the  more 
well-to-do  purchasers.  Small  manufacturers  on  Division  and 
other  streets,  who  have  absorbed  the  former  wholesale  trade, 
have  followed  a  method  somewhat  as  follows. 

A  contractor  who  had  been  able  to  save  five  hundred  or  six 
hundred  dollars  makes  up  in  a  small  shop  a  number  of  samples 
and  designs.  He  then  communicates  with  the  buyers  of  whole- 
sale dry  goods  or  with  clothing  houses,  cloak  jobbers,  country 
merchants,  "  mail-order  "  houses,  or  department  stores,  stating 
that  he  has  opened  a  shop  and  is  able  to  sell  new  and  first-class 
designs  in  the  several  patterns  of  cloaks  and  suits  at  a  much 
lower  price  than  the  cloak  manufacturers  are  doing.  He  does 
not  send  out  traveling  salesmen,  but  waits  for  buyers  to  call  and 
see  his  samples  and  leave  their  orders.  Having  received  an 
order,  he  takes  it  to  some  convenient  bank,  which  usually  extends 
him  credit  with  a  woolen  house  somewhat  approximating  the 
amount  of  the  order,  furnishing  also  a  certain  amount  of  cash 
with  which  to  pay  his  help.  The  bank  takes  the  order  from  him 
as  guaranty,  and  also  collects  the  bill  after  the  goods  are  made 
and  delivered.  In  this  way  a  man  with  very  little  money  is  able 
to  blossom  out  from  a  contractor  into  a  manufacturer  and  to  do 
t  business  to  the  amount  of  the  orders  he  is  able  to  get. 

The  saving  by  this  small  man  as  against  the  large  cloak 
manufacturer  is  in  the  following  ways  :  he  does  not  have  to  pay 
a  high-priced  designer,  since  he  designs  his  own  patterns ;  he 
does  not  have  to  pay  a  superintendent,  since  he  manages  his 
own  business  ;  nor  does  he  pay  high  rents,  since  he  is  usually 
located  in  the  poor  quarter  of  the  city.  He  can  get  labor  as 
cheap  as  any  contractor  because  he  runs  his  shop  in  the  same 


324         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

method  when  he  becomes  a  manufacturer  as  he  ran  it  when  he 
was  a  contractor ;  that  is,  his  shop  is  open  day  and  night,  and 
people  can  work  as  many  hours  as  they  wish.  He  is  always 
on  the  lookout  for  cheap  help  and  he  is  careful  in  regard  to 
saving  the  goods  and  pieces,  which  cannot  be  saved  in  the 
same  manner  in  the  large  factory.  So  by  selling  goods  in  some 
instances  for  thirty  and  forty  per  cent  less  than  the  wholesale 
cloak  manufacturer  can  possibly  do  he  can  give  the  buyers  of 
these  wholesale  and  jobbing  houses  and  also  the  retail  and 
department  stores  the  benefit  that  was  formerly  derived  by  the 
large  wholesale  manufacturer.  In  reality  he  is  little  more  than 
he  used  to  be,  a  contractor,  with  the  difference  that  he  now  does 
his  own  cutting  and  his  own  marketing ;  and  the  profits  on 
his  labor  and  on  the  capital  invested  in  the  business  are  shared 
with  the  banker. 

THE  TASK  SYSTEM 

Accompanying  the  immigration  of  Jews  from  1876  to  1882 
the  remarkable  "  task  system "  was  introduced  in  the  coat 
shops  in  New  York.  This  system  produces  at  the  present  time 
perhaps  one  half  the  coats  made  in  that  city.  The  task  system 
is  peculiar  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  it  originated  and 
continues.  It  exists  neither  in  other  cities  of  the  United  States 
nor  in  other  countries.  It  is  peculiar,  also,  to  the  Jewish  shops. 

The  task  system  was  the  first  real  division  of  labor  in  coat 
shops.  It  has  a  double  characteristic.  There  is  a  "team,"  or 
"  set,"  of  workmen,  and  the  wages  are  paid  by  the  piece.  The 
number  of  workmen  in  the  set  is  three,  —  the  machine  operator, 
the  baster,  and  the  underbaster  or  finisher.  The  pressing  is 
usually  done  by  a  fourth  man,  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  team. 
With  such  nicety  has  this  system  been  adjusted,  through  the 
pressure  of  competition,  that  at  the  present  time  it  is  found  that 
one  presser  can  press  more  coats  than  one  team  can  complete  in 
a  day ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  two  teams  can  furnish  more  work 
than  one  presser  can  complete  ;  consequently  the  standard  shop, 
in  which  four  fifths  of  the  task  work  is  done,  is  that  of  the 
"three-machine"  shop,  that  is,  the  shop  of  three  teams  of 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE      325 

operator,  baster,  and  finisher  to  two  pressers.  Sewing  on  buttons 
and  tacking  pockets  is  done  by  a  girl  working  by  the  week. 
Originally  in  many  cases  where  the  shop  was  small  the  con- 
tractor himself  was  one  of  the  team,  but  at  the  present  time, 
with  three  teams,  he  is  the  fitter  or  bushelman.  Each  team, 
therefore,  is  composed  of  the  following  :  one  operator,  one  baster, 
one  edge  baster  or  finisher.  To  every  three  teams,  two  pressers  ; 
two  girls  for  sewing  on  buttons,  tacking  pockets,  and  so  forth  ; 
one  or  two  girls  for  buttons,  felling  armholes,  and  so  forth. 

When  the  task  system  originated  with  the  Jewish  immi- 
grants, about  the  year  1877,  it  took  the  place  of  the  journey- 
man tailor  in  the  ready-made  work.  The  coat  for  which  the 
tailor  received  $$  or  $6  as  custom  work,  and  for  which  he 
received  $2.50  to  $3  in  the  dull  season  as  ready-made  work, 
was  made  in  these  Jewish  task  shops  for  $1.50  to  $2.  At  this 
price  the  Jews  earned  as  much  money  as  the  merchant  tailor 
and  even  more.  The  latter  made  very  little  use  of  the  sewing 
machine.  Most  of  the  work  on  the  coat  was  done  by  hand. 
When  the  division  of  labor  was  introduced  in  the  Jewish  shops 
each  particular  division  became  a  trade  in  itself.  The  machine 
operator  did  not  know  how  to  do  pressing  or  basting,  the  presser 
could  not  do  the  work  of  the  others,  and  so  on.  The  sewing- 
machine  operator  now  became  an  important  factor  in  the  trade. 
He  was  able  to  do  many  parts  of  the  work  by  machine  that  were 
formerly  done  by  hand,  and  as  a  result  the  coat  was  made  much 
quicker.  Then  again,  the  men  who  were  engaged  only  in  bast- 
ing were  able  to  do  their  work  much  quicker  and  probably 
better.  The  same  was  true  of  the  presser  and  finishers. 

In  addition  to  the  division  of  labor,  the  characteristic  of  the 
task  system  as  distinguished  from  a  piec£  aartem  consists  in 
the  fiction  that  the  workmen  are  earn  ing  W(^Bdard  amount  of 
wages  per  week.  The  scale  originally  fixed  upon,  and  adhered 
to  at  the  present  time,  was  $18  for  the  operator,  $16  for  the 
baster,  and  $7  to  $9  for  the  girl  edge  baster  or  finisher,  or  $11 
to  $12  for  the  man  edge  baster  who  has  latterly  taken  the 
girl's  place.  Starting  out  upon  this  basis,  it  was  found  twenty 
years  ago  that  a  team  could  complete  per  day  eight  or  nine 


326         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

cheviot  coats  with  plain  seams  and  with  welts  on  the  outside. 
At  this  rate  the  price  per  coat  for  the  team  was  about  80  cents. 
The  present  price  is  only  28  to  35  cents. 

The  process  by  which  the  price  of  labor  was  reduced,  follow- 
ing the  great  influx  of  Hebrews  in  1882,  was  somewhat  as 
follows.  The  contractor,  who  was,  perhaps,  himself  a  member 
of  the  team  on  a  kind  of  cooperative  basis  with  the  others, 
would  go  to  the  manufacturer  and  ask  for  work.  Finding  that 
there  was  but  little  work  to  be  had,  he  would  offer  to  take  the 
coats  cheaper  than  the  price  theretofore  paid.  When  he  came 
home  he  would  tell  his  men  that  there  was  not  much  work  and 
he  was  obliged  to  take  it  cheaper,  and,  since  he  did  not  want  to 
reduce  their  wages  and  pay  them  less  per  day,  all  they  would 
have  to  do  would  be  to  make  another  coat  in  the  task.  That  is, 
if  they  were  accustomed  to  make  9  coats  in  the  task,  they  would 
be  required  to  make  10,  then  n,  and  so  on.  The  wages  were 
always  reduced  on  the  theory  that  they  were  not  reduced  at  all 
but  the  amount  of  labor  increased.  In  this  way  intense  speed 
was  developed.  The  men  who  had  been  accustomed  to  making 
9  coats  in  a  task  would  make  10,  and  so  on  up  to  15,  18,  and 
even  20,  as  is  the  customary  task  at  the  present  time.  The 
hours  began  to  be  increased,  in  order  to  make  the  task  in  a  day. 
Within  the  last  three  years  it  is  said  by  the  men  that  it  is  only 
in  very  rare  cases  that  a  set  can  make  a  task  in  a  day  ;  that  it  is 
usual  for  these  sets  of  three,  even  when  working  twelve  or  thir- 
teen hours  per  day,  to  make  only  4^  or  5  tasks  in  a  week.  In 
previous  years,  they  claim,  men  were  able  to  make  7  and  8  tasks 
or  days'  work  per  week. 

This  increased  number  of  coats  per  task  probably  explains 
why,  in  the  evoMtjon  of  the.  trade,  women  could  not  hold  their 
own  as  edge  W^pPand  finishers.  About  1500  to  2500  girls 
have  been  driven  out  and  men  have  taken  their  places  at  wages 
fifty  per  cent  higher.  This  is  because  both  the  hours  and  the 
speed  were  increased  continually  so  that  women  were  phys- 
ically unable  to  perform  the  task. 

The  task  system,  it  is  said,  has  two  advantages,  —  the  men 
work  substantially  by  piecework  and  have  a  personal  inducement 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     327 

to  perform  their  work  as  quickly  as  they  can  ;  and  since  they 
are  in  a  team,  each  has  to  keep  up  with  the  others,  so  that 
a  higher  speed  by  any  one  induces  higher  speed  by  the  other 
two.  So  nicely  are  the  members  of  these  teams  adjusted  to 
each  other  that  frequently  a  baster  or  an  operator  is  out  of 
work  because  for  the  time  being  he  cannot  find  the  other  two 
members  whose  speed  is  exactly  fitted  to  his.  By  this  queer 
cooperative  production  in  the  form  of  team  work,  combined 
with  the  personal  interest  of  piecework,  the  Hebrew  tailors  in 
New  York  have  devised  what  is  perhaps  the  most  ingenious 
and  effective  engine  of  overexertion  known  to  modern  industry. 

One  reason  why  piecework  and  high  speed  have  become  the 
framework  of  the  contractors'  shops  is  probably  because  the 
Jewish  people  are  peculiarly  eager  to  earn  a  big  day's  wages 
regardless  of  sacrifice.  The  Jewish  workman  is  willing  to  work 
very  hard  for  this,  and  does  not  wish  to  have  it  said  that  there 
is  a  limit  to  his  earning  capacity.  It  is  the  desire  of  the  Jew 
to  have  his  employment  so  arranged  that  he  can  speculate  and 
bargain  upon  his  earning  capacity  and  can  make  use  of  the 
seasons.  Piecework  gives  him  that  opportunity.  In  a  rush 
season  he  will  demand  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  coats  to 
the  task,  making  more  tasks  per  week  and  consequently  earn- 
ing higher  wages.  If  the  work  is  slack  and  the  number  of 
coats  in  the  task  is  increased,  he  will  speculate  upon  his  abil- 
ity to  work  harder  and  still  earn  high  wages.  Usually  he  is 
anxious  to  accumulate  money  and  open  up  a  contractor's  shop 
for  himself,  or  to  go  into  some  kind  of  business.  It  is  not  for 
love  of  hard  work  nor  because  of  lack  of  other  enjoyment  that 
the  Jew  is  willing  to  work  so  hard,  but  for  the  sake  of  getting 
rid  of  work.  At  the  same  time  it  is  true  rj^^ting  green  immi- 
grants of  all  races  that  the  conditions  of  ^1  Bige  land  stimu- 
late them  to  the  hottest  exertion  of  whicr^mey  are  capable. 
The  Jewish  immigrant  is  peculiar  only  in  that  he  is  not  by 
nature  a  wage-earner,  and  he  keeps  before  himself  continually 
the  goal  of  emancipation  from  hard  work. 

This  characteristic  of  the  Jew  shows  itself  in  his  irritation 
under  the  discipline  of  the  factory.  He  is  willing  to  work  long 


328         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

hours,  but  does  not  like  to  have  any  one  dictate  the  time  when 
he  shall  begin  work  or  stop  work.  He  does  not  like  to  be 
driven  nor  have  his  attention  called  to  the  fact  that  he  has  not 
made  much  work.  He  wants  to  have  freedom.  This  he  usually 
has  in  the  contractor's  shop.  He  is  very  nearly  "  his  own  boss  "  ; 
he  can  smoke,  talk,  run  around,  stay  at  work  an  hour  longer,  come 
in  an  hour  earlier,  or  come  later.  The  conditions  of  sweat-shop 
employment  which  favor  this  are  piecework  and  an  almost  com- 
plete absence  of  factory  regulations  and  factory  management. 

While  the  task  system  displaced  the  journeyman  tailor  in  the 
manufacture  of  ready-made  coats,  it  has  itself  in  the  past  five  years 
met  a  competitor  in  the  factory,  or  large  shop.  In  this  contest  the 
task  system  appears  to  be  antiquated  and  uneconomical.  Dur- 
ing the  twenty-five  years  of  its  existence  in  New  York  it  shows  no 
material  change.  The  division  of  labor  is  but  slightly  different 
from  what  it  was  originally.  We  now  have  the  operator,  baster, 
and  edge  baster  or  finisher,  with  a  helper  or  two  in  each  branch 
of  work,  just  as  formerly,  except  that  the  edge  baster  or  finisher 
is  now  a  man,  while  originally  this  work  was  done  by  women. 
But  the  task  itself,  instead  of  being  8  or  10  coats,  was  raised  to 
20  to  24  coats,  though  reduced  to  10  or  12  at  times  by  the 
union.  The  workmen  make  up  in  overexertion  what  they  lack 
in  shop  organization  and  division  of  labor.  The  team  system 
lacks  elasticity  and  the  power  of  expansion.  The  division  of 
labor  can  go  no  further  than  to  pass  the  coat  through  the  hands 
of  not  more  than  nine  or  ten  persons.  If  the  shop  grows  in  size 
the  growth  is  not  organic,  it  is  segmentary.  It  cannot  add  a 
man  here  and  a  girl  there,  but  must  add  an  entire  team ;  in 
fact  it  must  add  three  teams  in  order  economically  to  adjust 
the  work  of  thj^fett  pressers. 

There  has,  il  Hj  been  a  cumbersome  attempt  during  the 
past  ten  years  ^Kntroduce  a  further  division  of  labor  in  the 
task  system.  It  consists  in  a  curious  reduplication  of  the  team. 
The  operator  in  the  original  team  becomes  the  first  operator 
and  does  the  parts  requiring  more  careful  work.  He  takes 
with  him  another  man,  called  "  two  thirds  of  an  operator,"  who 
does  operator's  work  requiring  less  skill  and  is  paid  two-third 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     329 

wages,  and  still  a  third  man,  called  "  one  third  of  an  operator," 
who  does  the  least  skillful  work  and  gets  one-third  pay.  The 
same  threefold  division  is  made  for  the  baster  and  for  the 
edge  baster,  so  that  there  is  also  a  "whole  baster,"  a  "two- 
thirds  baster,"  and  a  "one-third  baster."  A  shop  of  this  kind 
is  called  not  a  three-team  shop  but  a  "  two-team  "  shop,  since 
it  requires  a  whole  man  plus  a  two-thirds  man  plus  a  one-third 
man  to  make  two  "whole  men."  This  awkward  subdivision  is 
not  making  headway,  but  the  entire  task  system  is  yielding  to 
the  more  elastic  and  organic  factory  system.  This  is  known  in 
the  trade  as  the  "  Boston  system,"  or  "  section  work,"  in  order 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  task  system,  which  is  peculiar  to  New 
York.  It  is  not  really  a  "  Boston  system,"  since  it  is  found  also 
in  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  elsewhere,  but  it  has  been  slow  to 
gain  a  foothold  in  New  York  because  the  task  system  has  met 
it  by  its  unique  capacity  for  overexertion.  Now  that  it  has  been 
introduced  on  the  basis  of  New  York's  wages  and  standards  of 
exertion  those  contractors  who  have  adopted  it  are  confident 
of  its  future.  The  "  factory  "  employs  50  to  200  persons,  where 
the  task  system  employs  10  to  20.  It  has  a  minute  division 
of  labor  and  an  elasticity  of  expansion  far  beyond  that  of  the 
task  system. 

NATIONALITIES  AND  ORGANIZATIONS 

The  Jew  occupies  a  unique  position  in  the  clothing  trade. 
His  physical  strength  does  not  fit  him  for  manual  labor.  His 
instincts  lead  him  to  speculation  and  trade.  His  individualism 
unsuits  him  for  the  life  of  a  wage-earner,  and  especially  for  the 
discipline  of  a  labor  organization.  For  these  reasons  when  the 
Jew  first  lands  in  this  country  he  enters  suJ)  light  occupations 
as  sewing,  cigar  making,  and  shoemaking.  Only  about  eleven 
per  cent  of  the  Jewish  immigrants  were  tailors  in  Europe. 
The  reason  why  so  many  of  them  take  up  that  occupation  in 
America  is  because  the  work  is  light.  They  begin  as  helpers 
and  advance  to  full-fledged  mechanics.  After  they  have  worked 
for  some  time  and  have  learned  the  trade  they  open  contractors' 


330         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

shops  for  themselves.  They  can  begin  with  a  capital  of  fifty 
dollars.  From  that  they  go  into  the  wholesale  manufacture  of 
clothing.  A  similar  development  occurs  in  cigar  manufacture. 
Jews  do  not  enter  in  large  numbers  those  industries  where 
machinery  plays  an  important  part,  but  if  they  do  enter  they 
strive  to  set  up  as  small  manufacturers  or  contractors.  Probably 
the  only  place  in  the  United  States  where  shoes  are  made  out- 
side of  factories  by  the  old  sweating  system  is  among  Jewish 
contractors  in  New  York. 

Jewish  women  are  employed  to  a  much  less  extent  than  the 
women  of  other  nationalities,  and  their  children  are  kept  in 
school  until  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age.  It  is  quite  unusual 
for  Jewish  tailors  to  teach  their  children  their  own  trade.  The 
young  generation  seek  other  callings. 

The  Italian  tailor  in  his  own  country  receives  only  about 
one  half  the  wages  received  by  the  Russian,  Polish,  Hungarian, 
and  Roumanian  Jews  in  their  own  countries,  and  about  one 
quarter  of  the  wages  paid  for  similar  grades  of  work  in  western 
Europe.  Consequently  in  the  United  States,  with  his  standard 
of  living,  he  can  successfully  compete  with  the  newly  arrived 
Russian  Jew  and  much  more  successfully  with  the  German  or 
Englishman.  The  Russian  Jew  who  is  not  a  tailor  but  learned 
his  work  in  this  country  and  works  in  the  shop  as  operator  or 
presser  is  usually  from  the  stock  of  small  business  men  in  the 
old  country  who  have  a  fairly  good  standard  of  living,  and  he  is 
regarded  among  the  clothing  workers  as  of  the  better  class. 
He  will  insist  on  better  living  and  higher  wages  for  his  par- 
ticular kind  of  work  than  the  tailor.  This  accounts  for  a  curious 
paradox  in  the  task  system  in  New  York,  where  the  operator, 
who  usually  comesJrom  the  commercial  classes  in  Russia,  will 
command  $3  insteft  of  $2.66,  which  is  paid  to  the  skilled  tailor 
for  the  basting.  This  also  holds  true  in  other  branches,  such 
as  cloak  making  and  pants  and  vest  making.  The  operator 
usually  gets  more  money  than  the  tailor,  due  to  the  fact  that 
this  line  of  employment  has'  been  taken  up  by  a  class  of  people 
who  did  not  work  in  the  clothing  trade  in  the  old  country  and 
whose  standard  of  living  was  not  as  low  as  that  of  the  tailor. 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE 


331 


But  when  we  come  to  the  Italian  we  find  that  he  will  work 
at  operating,  or  pressing,  or  any  branch  of  the  trade  which  he 
learns  in  this  country  at  exceedingly  low  wages.  He  has 
usually  been  a  farmer  or  farm  hand,  and  the  standard  of  living 
of  the  Italian  farmer  is  even  below  that  of  the  tailor.  While  as 
yet  the  Italians  have  not  come  into  the  trade  in  very  large 
numbers,  since  they  have  sought  mainly  the  common  outdoor 
employments,  yet  those  who  have  taken  up  this  branch  of  work 
usually  accept  much  ikss  wages  than  skilled  tailors.  Consider- 
ing the  large  immigration  of  Italians  it  seems  that  the  future 
clothing  workers  in  this  country  are  not  likely  to  be  the  Jews 
but  the  Italians. 

One  point  at  which  the  Italians  have  an  advantage  is  the 
employment  of  their  wives  and  sisters.  The  Italian  and  his 
wife  will  come  to  the  shop  together.  If  he  is  a  pants  operator 
she  is  usually  his  helper,  or  if  he  is  a  cloak  maker  she  is  his 
hand  sewer  and  finisher,  and  so  both  labor  together  to  cover 
the  expenses  of  the  family.  In  the  case  of  the  Jews,  the  Jew- 
ish woman  will  not  go  to  work  in  the  shop  after  she  is  married. 
There  are  numbers  of  cases  where  the  Italian  and  his  wife 
together  work  for  the  same  price  which  the  Jew  receives  for 
his  labor  alone,  and  in  this  way  the  Italian  is  able  to  crowd  the 
Jew  out  of  the  trade. 

The  Italian,  like  the  Jew,  has  a  very  elastic  character.  He 
can  easily  change  habits  and  modes  of  work  and  adapt  himself 
to  different  conditions.  He  is  energetic  and  thrifty  and  will 
work  hard,  with  little  regard  to  the  number  of  hours.  It  is 
quite  usual  for  an  Italian  cloak  maker,  like  the  Jew,  after  he  has 
worked  ten  hours  in  the  shop  with  his  wife  to  take  a  bundle  of 
work  home  at  night.  But,  unlike  the  Jew,  he  not  only  does  the 
work  at  home  himself,  but  he  is  assisted  by  the  women  in  his 
family  and  often  leaves  a  part  of  the  work  for  them  to  do  dur- 
ing the  day. 

By  comparing  the  Italian  and  the  Pole  it  will  be  found  that 
it  is  the  Polish  women  who  enter  the  sewing  trade,  whereas  the 
former  Polish  farmer  clings  to  common  work  requiring  hard  labor. 
The  Italian  is  able  to  control  such  work  as  the  manufacture 


332         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  clothing,  silk  weaving,  hat  making,  and  other  trades  where 
taste  and  a  fine  sense  of  touch  are  essential  for  a  successful 
performance  of  the  work.  The  Polish  farmer  can  successfully 
compete  in  factory  work,  where  hard,  automatic  labor  is  neces- 
sary; but  the  Italian  dislikes  mechanical  work  and  is  better 
adapted  to  diversified  pursuits  where  manipulation  is  required. 

The  mode  of  production  among  the  Germans  and  Bohemians 
is  similar  ;  the  women  and  girls  are  operators,  edge  basters,  and 
finishers,  with  men  as  first  basters  and  trimmers.  The  Bohemi- 
ans probably  employ  their  children  in  the  shops  more  than  the 
Germans.  The  Bohemians  are  a  fairly  well-educated  people, 
and  have  a  number  of  unions  among  their  working  population. 
When  the  price  for  labor  is  reduced  they  usually  start  a  move- 
ment in  resistance. 

The  Poles  work  in  the  same  way  as  the  Germans  and  Bohemi- 
ans. Owing  to  the  opposition  of  their  priests  they  have  never 
made  any  attempt  to  join  a  labor  organization.  During  the 
strike  in  Chicago  in  1896  it  was  the  Polish  shops  that  continued 
at  work  and  defeated  the  strike.  The  Poles  are  a  submissive 
people  while  working,  and  it  is  in  their  shops  that  the  hardest 
driving  is  done.  They  have  greater  endurance  and  will  work 
for  a  lower  rate  of  wages  than  any  other  nationality.  The  con- 
tractors are  mainly  Jews.  The  Polish  children  begin  to  work 
early.  In  a  shop  of  sixteen  persons  there  will  usually  be  four 
to  six  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Notwithstanding  the  competing  power  of  Polish  women  they 
can  probably  be  outclassed  by  Italian  women.  While  a  great 
many  Polish  women  have  entered  the  trade  they  have  not  yet 
developed  great  speed  nor  been  able  to  work  in  factories  pro- 
ducing the  best  grades  of  work,  while  Italian  women  are  almost 
perfect  imitators.  The  Italian  woman  can  develop  speed  and 
can  work  with  skill.  Like  the  Poles,  they  also  are  obedient  to 
orders. 

The  best  people  in  the  clothing  trade  in  Chicago  are  the 
Scandinavians,  including  Swedes,  Norwegians,  and  Danes. 
They  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  pants  and  vests,  under 
contractors  of  their  own  nationality.  They  do  not  work  more 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     333 

than  ten  hours  a  day  as  a  rule,  usually  in  large  shops  with  steam 
power.  They  uphold  the  price  for  their  labor  more  than  the 
Bohemians  or  Poles  and  have  developed  the  best  labor  organ- 
izations in  the  trade.1  Their  standard  of  living  is  high,  and 
many  of  them  are  fairly  well  educated.  The  Swedes  do  not 
put  their  children  to  work  but  send  them  to  school. 

The  women  of  the  above-mentioned  nationalities  —  Germans, 
Bohemians,  Poles,  and  Swedes  —  are  generally  employed  in  the 
shops.  In  many  cases  they  work  even  after  marriage.  The 
mother  or  grandmother  stays  at  home  keeping  house  and  taking 
care  of  the  children  while  the  younger  women  of  the  family 
are  in  the  shop.  There  are  in  the  Swedish  shops  about  five 
women  to  one  man  on  pants  and  vests,  and  about  two  women 
to  one  man  in  the  Polish  and  Bohemian  coat  shops.  In  the 
Jewish  shops  there  are  about  equal  numbers  of  men  and  women, 
although  the  women  are  mainly  of  other  nationalities. 

The  standard  of  living  of  all  nationalities  has  been  gradually 
raised  after  their  immigration  to  this  country.  Probably  the 
Jewish  immigrant  changes  his  standard  of  living  soonest. 
When  the  Jew  wishes  to  make  more  money  he  will  leave  his 
former  occupation  as  operator  or  baster  and  will  become  a 
contractor  or  storekeeper.  So  that  instead  of  trying  to  raise 
the  standard  of  living  in  the  trade,  he  will  try  to  leave  the  trade 
and  throw  in  his  lot  with  people  whose  standard  of  living  is 
somewhat  higher.  In  this  way  his  commercial  instinct  militates 
continually  against  making  active  efforts  to  better  the  condition 
of  his  trade. 

The  Poles  and  Italians  adhere  to  a  lower  standard  of  living 
for  a  longer  time.  During  the  last  few  years  immigration  from 
their  countries  has  been  continual,  yet  there  is  not  much 
evidence  of  a  material  rise  in  the  standard  of  living  among  the 
clothing  workers.  While  it  may  be  that  the  clothing  workers 
are  earning  more  money  and  are  living  under  somewhat  better 
conditions  than  they  did  in  the  old  country,  yet  here  in  this 
country  their  lot  in  life  has  not  improved.  The  low  standard 

1  These  organizations  were  locked  out  and  defeated  in  1904-1905  on  the  "closed- 
shop"  issue.  The  teamsters  struck  in  sympathy  with  them.  See  footnote,  p.  64. 


334         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  living  on  the  part  of  those  immigrants  who  are  continually 
coming  into  the  trade  is  always  a  successful  check  on  the 
efforts  of  immigrants  of  longer  residence  to  better  their  condi- 
tion. So  they  have  no  choice  except  either  to  stay  in  the  trade 
and  submit  to  the  conditions  of  the  newly  arrived  immigrant 
or  to  leave  the  trade  and  go  into  business.  The  Jews  have 
been  successful  in  doing  the  latter.  As  regards  the  condition 
of  the  clothing  workers,  it  is  about  the  same  as  it  would  be  if 
all  these  Poles,  Jews,  and  Italians  had  begun  to  engage  in  the 
trade  yesterday.  Those  who  have  had  a  better  standard  of  living, 
such  as  the  Germans  and  Irish,  have  been  crowded  out  of  the 
trade  and  have  been  replaced  by  the  Italians,  Jews,  and  Poles. 

The  movement  of  wages  in  the  clothing  trade  is  directly 
affected  by  the  fate  of  labor  organizations.  Considering  the 
continual  influx  of  immigrants  unaccustomed  to  unionism,  the 
employment  of  women  and  children,  and  the  prevalence  of  home 
work,  the  problem  of  organization  is  indeed  serious.  In  New 
York  the  Jews  have  controlled  the  trade  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  so  that  conflicts  of  nationalities  within  the  union  have  not 
occasioned  difficulty.  The  problem  has  been  the  nature  of  the 
Jew  himself.  The  Jew's  conception  of  a  labor  organization  is 
that  of  a  tradesman  rather  than  that  of  a  workman.  In  the 
manufacture  of  clothing,  whenever  any  real  abuse  arises  among 
the  Jewish  workmen,  they  all  come  together  and  form  a  giant 
union  and  at  once  engage  in  a  strike.  They  bring  in  ninety-five 
per  cent  of  the  trade.  They  are  energetic  and  determined.  They 
demand  the  entire  and  complete  elimination  of  the  abuse.  The 
demand  is  almost  unanimous  and  is  made  with  enthusiasm 
and  bitterness.  They  stay  out  a  long  time,  even  under  the 
greatest  of  suffering.  During  a  strike  large  numbers  of  them 
are  to  be  found  with  almost  nothing  to  live  upon  and  their  fam- 
ilies suffering,  still  insisting,  on  the  streets  and  in  their  halls, 
that  their  great  cause  must  be  won. 

But  when  once  the  strike  is  settled,  either  in  favor  of  or 
against  the  cause,  they  are  contented,  and  that  usually  ends  the 
union,  since  they  do  not  see  any  practical  use  for  a  union  when 
there  is  no  cause  to  fight  for.  Consequently  the  membership 


SWEATING  SYSTEM  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE     335 

of  a  Jewish  union  is  wholly  uncertain.  The  secretary's  books 
will  show  60,000  members  in  one  month  and  not  5000  within 
three  months  later.  If  perchance  a  local  branch  has  a  steady 
thousand  members  from  year  to  year,  and  if  they  are  indeed 
paying  members,  it  is  likely  that  they  are  not  the  same  members 
as  during  the  year  before.  A  German  union,  on  the  contrary, 
will  have  the  same  members  year  aftar  year,  well  or  ill,  with 
little  change.  The  Jew  joins  the  union  when  it  offers  a  bargain 
and  drops  it  when  he  gets,  or  fails  to  get,  the  bargain. 

The  Jew  is  also  exceedingly  abstract  and  metaphysical  and 
greatly  interested  in  general  principles.  His  union  is  always, 
therefore,  except  in  time  of  a  strike,  a  forum  for  the  discussion 
of  socialism  and  the  philosophy  of  the  labor  movement.  The 
socialist  element  acquires  control  when  the  workingmen  stay 
away  from  the  union,  and  they  urge  an  organization  devoted 
mainly  to  propaganda  on  the  principles  of  the  solidarity  of  all 
labor,  without  much  attention  to  trade  differences.  The  Jewish 
labor  press,  pamphlets,  and  speakers,  nearly  all  recruited  from 
the  socialists,  have  continually  engaged  in  these  discussions, 
neglecting  the  formation  and  strengthening  of  their  unions. 
These  statements  are  substantiated  again  and  again  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  trade  in  New  York.  It  is  a  saying  on  the  East  Side 
that  there  is  always  a  strike  going  on  somewhere. 

J.  R.  COMMONS. 


XV 

SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING 

ANTHRACITE  MINES  x 

Prior  to  the  inauguration  of  the  strike  of  the  anthracite  mine 
workers  in  1902  the  writer  was  a  witness  of  an  eviction  scene 
in  one  of  the  mining  "patches."  A  "patch"  in  the  hard-coal 
fields  of  Pennsylvania  is  a  small  group  of  houses  situated  near  a 
colliery  and  used  as  residences  by  the  mine  employees.  The 
houses  in  this  instance  had  been  occupied  up  to  the  time  of  the 
I  eviction  by  members  of  English-speaking  races.  They  were  in 
arrears  for  rent,  and  their  belongings  were  being  put  out  upon 
the  public  highway  by  the  constable  and  his  deputies. 

One  particular  house  had  been  the  home  of  the  families  of  a 
Scotchman  and  his  son.  These  two  men,  with  their  wives  and 
the  three  small  children  of  the  younger,  occupied  the  four  rooms, 
two  of  which  were  on  the  first  floor  and  two  on  the  second.  Of 
the  seven  members  of  the  household  the  two  men  were  the  only 
wage-earners.  All  their  effects  on  this  eviction  day  were  piled 
along  the  highway, — a  bureau,  "straw  ticks,"  a  stove,  several 
chairs,  a  rag  carpet  or  two,  with  here  and  there  a  lithograph  scat- 
tered incongruously  among  boxes,  kitchen  utensils,  and  the  sepa- 
rated parts  of  beds.  These  and  other  belongings  were  of  such 
quantity  and  cumbersomeness  as  to  make  necessary  the  employ- 
ment of  a  wagon  with  horse  and  driver  to  remove  them.  This 
description  would  apply  as  well  to  the  scenes  presented  at  the  other 
miners'  houses  in  this  particular  "  patch  "  on  this  eviction  day. 

A  week  or  so  later  I  was  again  at  this  mining  "  patch."    Into 

the  houses  unwillingly  vacated  by  the  English-speaking  mine 

I  workers  representatives  of  the  Slav  races  were  moving.    They 

1  From  Charities,  Vol.  XII,  December  3,  1904.  See  also  Warne,  The  Slav 
Invasion  and  the  Mine  Workers,  Philadelphia,  1904. 

336 


SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING  337 

came  not  along  the  highway,  with  their  belongings  in  wagons, 
but  by  trail  across  the  mountain  from  the  railway  station  at 
Hazleton,  with  their  household  effects  in  blanketed  bundles  and 
trunklike  boxes  slung  across  their  backs.  The  women,  of  whom 
there  were  but  few,  carried  with  seeming  ease  huge  bundles,  one 
on  top  of  the  head  and  one  under  each  arm,  and,  like  the  men, 
represented  a  beast-of-burden  adaptability  to  the  most  exacting 
physical  labor  under  pressure  from  hard  circumstances.  Eight 
men  and  one  woman  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  particular 
house  in  which  the  families  of  the  two  English-speaking  mine 
employees  had  lived. 

The  cooking  utensils  of  the  newcomers  were  of  the  barest  in 
quantity  and  quality.  They  had  neither  chairs  nor  bureaus. 
Their  meager  supply  of  clothing  was  all  but  limited  to  the  gar- 
ments they  wore.  "  Straw  ticks  "  and  beds  were  conspicuous  by 
their  absence,  the  new  occupants  being  content  with  rolling  them- 
selves in  blankets  and  sleeping  upon  the  uncarpeted  floor. 

Thus  in  the  concrete  is  illustrated  the  meaning  of  the  Slav 
invasion  of  the  anthracite  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  a  phenome- 
non which  has  been  going  on,  unobserved  by  most  of  us,  for  the 
past  quarter  of  a  century  and  more. 

Previous  to  the  coming  of  these  alien  races  the  English,  Welsh, 
Irish,  Scotch,  Germans,  Canadians,  with  the  native  Americans, 
formed  the  mining  population  of  the  hard-coal  fields  and  domi- 
nated the  labor  supply  -of  the  anthracite  industry.  Beginning 
about  1875,  the  Slav  and  Italian  invasions  swept  into  the  coal 
fields,  bringing  a  group  of  races  wholly  foreign  to  those  already 
dominant  there,  not  only  ethnically  but  in  habits  and  customs, 
language  and  institutions.  The  Pole,  the  Slovak,  the  Ruthenian, 
the  Bohemian,  the  Magyar,  the  Lithuanian,  the  Italian,  and  like 
nationalities  crowded  into  the  mining  settlements,  precipitating 
Tnew  factors  into  the  already  complicated  industrial  situation  and 
/making  intensely  acute  the  problem  of  race  assimilation.  Briefly, 
down  to  1900  the  most  striking  effect  of  this  invasion  was  the 
migration  in  large  numbers  of  members  of  the  English-speaking 
nationalities  not  only  from  the  anthracite  industry  itself  but  from 
that  section  of  Pennsylvania.  , 


338         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Immigrants  from  Poland,  Austria,  Russia,  Hungary,  and  Italy 
in  the  eight  hard-coal-producing  counties  increased  from  1925  in 
1880  to  45,007  in  1890  and  to  89,328  in  1900.  The  English- 
speaking  foreign-born  inhabitants — those  from  Ireland,  Ger- 
many, gcotland,  England,  and  Wales  —  in  the  anthracite  region 
increased  from  102,421  in  1880  to  123,636  in  1890;  by  1900  they 
had  decreased  to  100,269.  At  the  same  time  the  total  foreign- 
born  population  increased  from  108,827  in  1880  to  170,582  in 
1890  and  to  1 9 3, 69 2, *ia>  1900.  In  brief,  the  English-speaking 
races,  who  composed  nearly  94  per  cent  of  the  total  foreign-born 
element  in  the  eight  hard-coal-producing  counties  in  1880,  formed 
less  than  73  per  cent  in  1890  and  no  more  than  52  per  cent 
in  1900.  From  less  than  2  per  cent  of  the  total  foreign-born 
population  in  1880  the  central  European  races  increased  to  over 
25  per  cent  in  1890  and  to  over  46  per  cent  in  1900. 

This  tendency  in  the  anthracite  industry  of  the  Slav  races  to 
increase  and  of  the  English-speaking  nationalities  to  decrease  is 
even  more  clearly  shown  in  statistics  of  employees  of  the  coal- 
mining companies.  The  foreign-born  Slav  and  Italian  workers 
in  and  about  the  mines  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal 
and  Iron  Company,  the  largest  single  employer  of  mine  labor 
in  the  lower  or  Schuylkill  field,  increased  from  5839  in  1890  to 
9521  in  1901.  The  foreign-born  English-speaking  employees 
decreased  from  14,176  to  1152  during  the  eleven  years.  For 
the  same  period  the  employees  grouped  as  "born  in  America" 
—  for  the  most  part  descendants  of  English-speaking  immigrants, 
doing  the  easiest  work  in  and  around  the  mines  —  increased  from 
4719  in  1890  to  15,627  in  1901. 

The  movement  of  the  Slavs  into  and  of  the  English-speaking 
race  out  of  the  hard-coal  industry  is  distinctly  traceable  also 
according  to  the  coal  fields,  being  first  marked  in  the  Schuylkill 
field,  then  in  the  middle  or  Lehigh  field,  and  lastly  in  the 
northern  or  Wyoming  field. 

This  remarkable  and  sudden  change  in  the  racial  composition 
of  the  anthracite-mine  laborers  has  been  the  result  of  marked 
differences  in  the  standards  of  living  of  the  Slav  and  Italian 
and  English-speaking  mine  workers,  —  differences  which  are 


SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING  339 

very  clear  to  those  who  have  observed  closely  at  first  hand  this 
industrial  phenomenon.  Specific  illustrations  are  on  record  in 
nearly  every  "company"  store  in  the  family  grocery  bills  of 
these  newcomers  and  of  the  English-speaking  mine  employees. 
The  differences  are  also  indicated  in  the  fact  that  the  English- 
speaking  mine  worker  has  usually  been  married  and  has  had 
children ;  the  incoming  Slav,  generally  speaking,  has  neither  wife 
nor  children.  He  has  thus  been  free  from  the  family  outlay  and 
from  the  necessity  of  having  a  wage  income  sufficient  to  meet 
the  expense  these  goodly  possessions  entail.  Unlike  the  English- 
speaking  miner,  the  Slav  has  not  had  the  parent's  cost  of  sending 
his  children  to  the  public  school ;  he  has  not  had  the  property 
owner's  tax  contribution  to  meet;  he  has  not  had  the  male  citi- 
zen's expense  of  voting,  for  the  individual's  cost  for  such  political 
privileges,  where  they  have  been  exercised  by  the  Slav,  has  usu- 
ally been  met  by  the  political  faction  which  hoped  to  profit  by 
the  Slav's  use  of  suffrage.  In  church  contributions,  in  insurance 
against  injuries  and  death  while  at  work  in  the  mines,  in  the 
dues  of  beneficial  societies,  and  in  the  cost  of  like  social  and 
industrial  activities,  the  Slav  has  not  had  as  great  an  expense  as 
the  English-speaking  nationalities  in  the  mines. 

All  these  represent  the  money,  cost  to  the  individual  of  civic 
responsibilities,,  the  proper  exercise  of  which  is  of  incalculable 
benefit  to  a  community.  For  our  particular  purpose  they  indicate 
also  some  of  the  sources  of  cost  to  the  English -speaking  mine 
employee  which  enter  into  determining  his  standard  of  living  and 
which  he  can  meet  only  by  the  sale  of  his  labor.  The  incoming 
Slav  has  been  practically  free  from  the  necessity  of  meeting 
these  and  other  expenses,  since  his  standard  of  living  has-been 
much  lower  in  cost  than  what  the  English-speaking  mine  worker 
/ias  been  compelled  to  meet.  In  consequence  two  distinctly 
/marked  groups  of  labor  bearing  different  prices  have  competed 
in  practically  the  same  market  for  the  sale  of  their  labor. 

It  is  an  economic  commonplace  that  where  two  commodities 
are  offered  for  sale,  other  things  being  equal,  the  consumer 
chooses  the  one  bearing  the  lower  price.  In  the  anthracite 
industry  the  consumers  of  mine  labor  were  the  railroad  mining 


340         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

companies.  With  an  oversupply  of  labor  almost  daily  offered 
for  sale,  they  purchased  that  of  the  Slav  and  Italian  because  it 
was  the  cheaper.  It  was  not  only  because  of  their  lower  standard 
of  living  but  also  because  they  plied  their  picks  in  more  danger- 
ous places,  worked  thinner  seams,  and  put  up  with  conditions 
of  employment  which  the  English-speaking  mine  workers  would 
not  brook.  In  consequence  the  older  nationalities  began  to  be 
forced  out  of  the  industry  and  the  migration  already  mentioned 
resulted.  It  was  inevitable  that  the  English-speaking  mine 
workers  who  desired  to  remain  in  the  industry  should  do  one  of 
two  things,  — (either  sell  their  labor  for  the  price  this  new  com- 
petition set  or  compel  the  Slav  and  Italian  to  work  for  a  wage, 
that  is,  to  sell  his  labor  for  a  price  sufficient  to  support  the 
higher  standard  of  living^)  The  former,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the 
tendency  down  to  1 900  ;  but  by  the  strike  of  that  year,  and  much 
more  so  by  that  of  1902,  this  competition  has  been  brought  under 
the  control  of  the  English-speaking  miner.  How  long  this  con- 
dition is  to  remain  is  likely  to  be  definitely  settled  in  1906,  when 
the  award  of  the  Anthracite  Coal  Strike  Commission  terminates. 

In  the  struggle  of  1900  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America 
had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  prevailing  upon  the  §lav  and  Italian 
to  "join  th^  IIPJQP-"  Up  to  this  time  racial  antipathies,  social  dis- 
tinctions, language,  and  so  forth,  were  among  the  strong  barriers 
which  prevented  unity  of  action  by  the  English-speaking  and  the 
non-English-speaking  groups.  These  obstacles  were  finally  over- 
come by  the  union  by  securing  as  industrial  leaders  of  these 
races  men  of  their  own  nationality  who  could  speak  English. 

Through  the  support  of  the  Slav  and  Italian  the  strike  of  1900 
brought  to  all  mine^KOfkcrs'an  increase  in  wages  and  a  mitiga- 
tion of  some  of  the  hard  conditions  of  employment.  The  Slav's 
industrial  self-interest  being  thus  brought  home  to  him,  he  made 
the  "best "  striker  in  the  strike  of  1902.  In  this  way  and  so  far 
I  the  United  Mine  Workers  have  controlled  competition  to  the 
^.advantage  of  all  mine  labor  in  the  hard-coal  fields. 

For  the  twenty-five  years  down  to  1900  the  racial  forces  in 
opposition  to  assimilation  between  the  Slav  and  English-speaking 
nationalities  in  the  anthracite  industry  were  dominant.  But  the 


SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING  341 

industrial  disturbances  of  1900  and  1902  have  put  into  operation 
new  and  different  forces,  or  rather  they  have  directed  the  social 
forces  into  a  different  channel.  On  the  broad  ground  of  indus- 
trial self-jnte^est  racial  ties  are  being  broken  down,  largely 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America.  /The  English-speaking  races  have  established  what  is 
practically  a  jnmimum  wage  in  most  of  the  occupations  about 
the  collieries,  and  by  so  doing  are  the  sooner  bringing  the  Slav 
up  to  a  higher  standard  of  living.  In  consequence  assimilation 
between  the  English-speaking  and  the  Slav  races  will  not  be  such 
a  remote  possibility  as  formerly.  With  a  higher  wage  and  better 
conditions  of  employment,  there  are  indications  that  the  Slav 
races  and  their  descendants  are  responding  with  alacrity  to  the 
influences  tending  toward  conformity  to  American  industrial  con- 
ditions. They  are,  in  general,  frugal,  industrious,  peaceable,  and 
for  the  most  part  possess  qualities  of  character  which  will  in  time 
-and  under  proper  conditions  make  them  a  valuable  addition  to 
American  citizenship.  The  present  problem  in  the  coal  fields 
is  how  to  bring  favorable  influences  to  bear  upon  them.  {This 
small  geographical  area  in  northeastern  Pennsylvania,  containing 
twenty-six  different  nationalities,  with  their  different  languages, 
customs,  traditions,  and  habits  of  thought  and  action,  — a  hetero- 
geneous mass  of  races  in  the  course  of  assimilation,  —  presents 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  social  phenomena  of  our  time.  From 
its  progress  much  of  value  should  be  learned  to  aid  in  the  greater 
problem  yet  to  be  faced. 

yf"Not  only,  as  has  been  shown,  was  this  immigration  of  cheaper 
I  labor  f<pm  European  countries  one  of  the  principal  causes  which 
operated  to  give  rise  to  the  coal  miners'  strikes  in  1900  and 
1902,  but  it  had  much  to  do  with  bringing  about  the  strike  of  the 
steel  workers  in  1901,  that  of  the  textile  workers  in  1903,  and 
that  of  the  meat  handlers  at  Chicago  in  1904.  All  these  strikes 
centered  about  the  unskilled  occupations  in  the  different  indus- 
tries, the  very  occupations  toward  which  the  competition  of 
Slav  and  Italian  was  directed  by  virtue  of  their  being  unskilled 
workmen.  They  were  indications  of  a  widespread  conflict  waged 
by  immigrants  to  secure  a  foothold  in  American  industries.  The 


342         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

movement  is  one  which  continues  to  furnish  a  serious  menace  to 
our  industrial  stability. 

,.  /  Slav  immigration  would  not  be  the  serious  problem  that  it  is 
to-day  if  its  distribution  had  been  intelligently  effected.  It  has 
become  an  acute  problem  in  many  sections  primarily  because  the 
distribution  of  its  elements  has  been  neglected.  Salvation  now 
must  be  in  a  reliance  upon  American  institutions  to  assimilate 
this  great  influx  of  aliens.  That  this  task  is  to  test  those  insti- 
tutions very  near  to  their  breaking  point  is  clear  to  all  observers 
of  industrial  and  social  conditions. 

*"  Experience  thus  far  should  teach  the  necessity  for  immediate 
and  well-organized  action  looking  toward  the  directing  of  at  least 
a  portion  of  this  immigration  stream  into  those  sections  of  the 
country  —  into  the  South,  for  example  —  where  it  is  most  needed, 
instead  of  permitting  it  to  follow  the  haphazard  channel  of  its 
own  making  into  the  large  industrial  centers  where  its  elements 
congregate  in  "foreign  quarters  "  and  give  rise  to  municipal  and 
other  problems  whose  tendencies  are  working  serious  injury  to 
our  communities.  Already  some  of  the  southern  railroads  have 
undertaken  this  task,  but  it  must  be  planned  on  a  much  larger 
scale  and  be  supported  much  more  comprehensively  than  there 
is  now  any  evidence  of,  if  we  are  to  hope  for  a  solution  of  some 
of  the  more  important  problems  arising  out  of  immigration. 

FRANK  JULIAN  WARNE. 


BITUMINOUS  MINES  l 

The  special  significance  of  a  paper  on  the  Slavs  in  the  bitumi- 
nous mines  of  Illinois  is  found  in  the  effect  on  them  of  the  jnine 
Practically  all  the  Slavs  in  Illinois,  outside  of 


Cook  County,  are  at  work  in  or  about  the  mines,  as  very  few  of 
them  are  employed  on  railway  and  other  kinds  of  construction 
which  attract  the  Italians.  Of  the  37,000  mine  workers  in  Illi- 
nois about  60  per  cent  are  foreign-born,  and  of  this  60  per  cent 
about  one  fourth  are  Slavs  and  Lithuanians.  The  four  or  five 

r 
1  From  Charities,  Vol.  XII,  December  3,  1904. 


SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING  343 

divisions  of  the  Slavs  exceed  in  number  any  other  nationality 
of  the  foreign-born,  the  Italians  coming  next,  to  the  number  of 
3000.  Among  these  the  Slavs  predominate  in  the  order  Poles, 
Slovaks,  and  Bohemians,  while  the  Lithuanians  number  less 
than  1000.  The  great  majority  of  them  have  entered  this  field 
since  1894,  their  introduction  at  that  time  being  brought  about 
through  the  general  strike  of  the  American  and  west  European 
miners.  The  strike  ended  in  a  complete  defeat  of  the  improvised 
union  of  the  time,  and  as  a  result  the  Slavs  and  the  Italians  have 
become  in  certain  districts  the  predominating  elements. 

The  circumstances  of  their  immigration  cannot  be  understood 
without  a  word  on  the  characteristics  of  the  mining  industry  in 

—    i         "  "•  J 

the,  state  of  Illmoisr  The  northern  field  was  the  first  in  develop- 
ment, but  it  had  the  disadvantage  of  exceedingly  thin  veins  of 
coal,  a  seam  of  forty  inches  being  a  prevailing  depth.  The  south- 
ern field,  on  the  other  hand,  is  characterized  by  veins  of  six  to 
ten  feet  in  thickness.  Owing  to  the  greater  facility  of  mining  in 
the  southern  field,  the  introduction  of  machinery,  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  seam,  the  competition  of  coal  in  the  markets  had 
become  so  serious  that  many  mines  in  the  northern  field  were 
reduced  to  two  or  three  months'  work  in  the  year,  and  even  at 
prices  per  ton  for  mining  double  the  prices  in  the  southern  field 
.the  miners  were  unable  to  earn  similar  wages.  On  this  account 
the  northern  field  has  been  the  source  of  labor  agitation,  and  the 
prominent  leaders  of  the  mine  workers'  union  both  in  state  and 
•national  fields  have  had  their  training  in  that  section.  It  was, 
consequently,  into  this  field  that  the  majority  of  the  Slav  and 
Italian  immigrants  were  brought  by  the  operators,  as  is  plainly 
shown  by  the  statistics  compiled  by ,thq/ Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  showing  that  in  the  first,  second,  and  fourth  mining 
districts  of  the  state  the  percentages  of  foreign-born  miners  are 
respectively  89  per  cent,  72  per  cent,  and  62  per  cent ;  whereas 
in  the  other  parts  of  the  state  the  highest  proportion  is  5 1  per 
cent,  and  in  the  seventh,  the  most  southerly  district,  only  20  per 
cent  are  foreign-born. 

This  distribution  of  the  Slavs,  who  with  the  Italians  constitute 
the  bulk  of  these  large  percentages  of  foreign-born  inhabitants, 


344 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


applies  not  only  to  districts  throughout  the  state  but  also  to 
working  places  within  the  mines.  For  it  is  the  Slav  and  the 
Italian  who  are  willing  to  take  the  places  where  the  difficulties 
of  mining  are  greatest  and  where  consequently  the  output  and 
earnings  of  the  miner  are  least.  The  American  and  west 
European  stock  tend  to  distribute  themselves  in  the  better  dis- 
tricts of  the  state  and  to  keep  the  better-paying  positions  within 
each  mine. 

After  the  strike  of  1894,  notwithstanding  a  remarkable 
decrease  in  wages,  there  was  practically  no  improvement  in  the 
mining  business  for  three  years.  The  conditions  not  only  of 
the  English-speaking  miners  but  even  of  the  Slavs  and  Italians 
became  so  oppressive  that  in  1897,  when  the  strike  was  called 
by  the  remnant  of  the  former  union,  practically  every  miner  and 
mine  worker  in  the  state,  including  Slav  and  Italian,  laid  down 
his  tools.  The  union  entered  the  strike  with  no  treasury  and 
only  a  few  hundred  members,  but  at  the  end  of  four  months  won 
a  complete  victory  and  a  general  increase  in  wages,  together  with 
the  eight-hour  working  day.  The  organization  in  Illinois  is  much 
stronger  than  in  other  parts  of  the  bituminous Jjektrtnainly  because 
the  mine  workers  in  this  state  held  out  at  least  a  month  longer 
than  those  in  the  other  states  of  the  competitive  field  and  thereby 
secured  terms  in  the  final  settlement  with  the  operators  more 
to  their  advantage  than  the  terms  secured  in  the  other  states. 
Since  the  success  of  the  strike  in  1897  the  mine  workers'  union 
has  made  annual  agreements  with  the  operators,  the  terms 
regarding  both  wages  and  conditions  of  work  being  most 
minutely  described. 

The  English-speaking  miners  universally  show  an  inclination 
to  keep  Slavs  and  Italians  from  coming  into  the  mines,  and  their 
immigration  has  been  very  slight  since  1897.  Practically  the 
only  way  in  which  the  Slav  coming  from  the  old  country  can 
now  get  employment  as  a  miner  is  through  the  intervention  of 
a  relative  or  friend  who  agrees  to  be  responsible  for  him.  The 
state  law  requires  two  men  to  work  together  in  a  "room,"  and 
the  miners'  union  requires  them  to  share  their  earnings  equally. 
Consequently  a  new  miner  who  wants  work  must  find  an  old 


SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING  345 

miner  who  will  teach  him  and  share  with  him.  This  naturally  is 
not  easy  to  do.  Furthermore,  he  must  serve  a  year's  apprentice- 
ship above  ground  as  a  laborer  before  going  below.  This  applies 
to  miners  proper  who  are  paid  by  the  ton.  A  different  restriction, 
to  be  mentioned  below,  exists  for  "mine  workers,"  who  are  paid 
by  the  day. 

The  union  at  first  established  an  initiation  fee  of  fifty  dollars, 
which  practically  excluded  all  newcomers.  Owing  to  the  strenli- 
ous  opposition  of  the  operators  in  their  annual  conferences,  this 
initiation  fee  was  reduced  to  t^n^dollars,  at  which  figure  it  now 
stands.  At  the  same  time  the  agreements  distinctly  provide  for 
the  open  shop,  the  employer  being  given  the  right  to  hire  new 
men  not  members  of  the  organization  provided  he  does  not  dis- 
criminate against  union  men.  However,  on  account  of  the  high 
minimum  wage  for  day  labor  which  the  union  secured  and  has 
been  able  most  effectually  to  enforce,  it  is  not  to  the  interest  of 
the  operator  to  employ  fresh  and  inexperienced  men,  provided 
older  employees  are  on  the  ground.  The  significance  of  the  mini- 
mum wage  will  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  whereas  for  common  labor 
the  rate  of  pay  for  ten  hours'  work  prior  to  the  strike  of  1897  had 
been  reduced  as  low  as  $1.40,  the  union  gradually  increased  the 
minimum  rate  for  all  day  labor  employed  above  ground  to  $2.02^ 
in  1903,  although  a  reduction  was  accepted  in  1904,  bringing  it 
to  $1.91  for  eight  hours'  work.  For  underground  work  the  mini- 
mum was  increased  until  it  stood  at  $2.56  in  1903,  but  was 
reduced  in  1904  to  $2.23  for  eight  hours'  work.  With  such 
a  high  minimum,  notwithstanding  the  open-shop  privilege,  the 
employer  has  little  inducement  to  take  on  new  men. 

The  high  minimum  has  also  an  important  effect  on  the  employ- 
ment of  boys  and  on  the  attitude  of  the  Italian  and  Slav  toward 
the  public-school  system.  At  such  rates  of  pay  the  employer  is 
not  inclined  to  take  boys  into  the  mines  ;  in  fact  they  secure  their 
employment  after  they  reach  the  age  of  sixteen  mainly  through 
the  responsibility  which  their  fathers  and  brothers  assume  on 
their  part.  Owing  to  the  complete  exclusion  of  boys  from  the 
mines  in  any  capacity  whatever,  there  has  been  a  remarkable  in- 
crease in  school  attendance  of  foreigners'  children,  who  otherwise 


346         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

would  be  found  at  work  in  order  to  help  out  the  family  income. 
The  Slavs  are  beginning  to  take  an  interest  in  the  public- 
school  system,  several  instances  being  known  where  repre- 
sentatives of  this  race,  as  well  as  of  the  Italian,  *  have  been 
elected  to  the  school  boards.  This  fact,  however,  should  not  be 
made  too  much  of,  since  their  participation  is  mainly  owing  to 
the  effort  of  Americans  —  business  men  and  mine  superintend- 
ents —  to  invite  and  urge  Slavs  and  Italians  to  accept  such  repre- 
sentation on  these  boards.  The  object  of  course  is  to  interest 
foreigners  in  the  'school  system,  but  the  interest  must  be  culti- 
vated from  without  and  does  not  spring  voluntarily  from  the  Slavs 
themselves.  In  many  cases  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  secure  a 
Slav  or  an  Italian  who  will  accept  such  a  position. 

The  Italian  shows  more  intelligence  and  appreciation  of  his 
position  in  the  union  than  does  the  Slav.  The  policy  of  the  mine 
workers'  union  is  to  distribute  the  offices  among  the  different 
nationalities  in  order  to  have  interpreters  at  their  meetings  and 
agents  to  keep  the  several  nationalities  in  line.  Undoubtedly 
the  greatest  difficulty  encountered  in  the  mining  region  at  the 
present  time  under  the  system  of  agreements  with  the  operators 
is  the  presence  in  such  large  numbers  of  non-English-speaking 
miners  and  mine  workers.  The  enforcement  of  the  interstate  and 
state  agreements  is  a  matter  of  difficulty,  sometimes  on  account 
of  the  dishonesty  of  the  interpreter,  and  often  on  account  of  his 
inefficiency,  and  this  is  especially  serious  in  the  northern  fields 
where  the  unions  are  controlled  by  the  Slavs  and  the  Italians. 
There  have  been  several  local  strikes  and  violations  of  the  agree- 
ment on  account  of  this  barrier  of  language,  and  there  is  no  one 
object  which  appeals  more  to  the  operators  of  the  state  than  that 
of  instruction  in  English.  This  object  of  course  did  not  appeal 
to  them  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  mine  workers  and  the 
establishment  of  the  agreement  system,  but  now  that  they  have 
for  eight  years  been  running  their  mines  in  cooperation  with  the 
union,  they  find  it  necessary  to  assist  the  latter  in  bringing  for- 
ward its  more  conservative  and  intelligent  members  and  in  raising 
the  general  level  of  intelligence  of  the  mass.  This  accounts  for 
the  interest  which  they  show  in  the  public-school  system,  and 


SLAVS  IN  COAL  MINING  347 

there  is  no  subject  of  which  the  operators  speak  with  greater 
pride  than  of  the  high  grade  of  schools  in  the  mining  districts. 
Frequently  a  superintendent  or  other  officer  of  a  company  will 
be  found  on  the  school  board  in  company  with  a  Slav,  an  Italian, 
and  representatives  of  other  nationalities.  The  parochial  schools, 
which  are  attended  by  a  majority  of  the  Slav  children,  are  of  an 
unusually  high  order,  and  not  only  is  the  English  language  taught 
in  all  of  them,  but  English  may  be  said  to  be  the  language  of  the 
parochial  schools. 

The  fact  which  interests  the  observer  most  of  all  is  the  mar- 
velous thrift  of  the  Slavs.  Notwithstanding  the  prevalence  of 
t  the  use  of  intoxicants  among  them  and  other  nationalities,  large 
numbers  have  good  bank  accounts,  and  the  movement  toward 
purchasing  homes  has  become  perhaps  the  most  noticeable  fea- 
ture of  mining  communities.  In  many  cases  company  houses 
have  been  sold  to  employees,  and  often  it  happens  that  a  Slav 
miner  is  able  to  pay  in  cash  six  hundred  to  a  thousand  dollars 
for  his  house.  These  houses  are  of  course  not  elaborate,  but 
there  are  none  so  inferior  as  those  which  one  sees  in  the  southern 
anthracite  fields.  It  is  agreed  on  all  sides  that  the  stability  of 
employment  which  has  prevailed  since  1897  has  been  the  main 
incentive  of  this  movement  tQA^ard  h^raQ^piOMii^l-Oibliip. 

Compared  with  the  situation  of  the  Slavs  in  the  cities,  that  of 
those  living  in  the  mining  districts  of  Illinois  is  idyllic.  Their 
houses  though  small  are  not  overcrowded,  as  they  are  in  Chi- 
cago, each  has  its  garden  plot,  and  the  hills  and  woods  are  near. 
Notwithstanding  their  work  is  underground,  ventilation  is  always 
good,  temperature  is  even  the  year  round,  hours  are  short,  and 
in  addition  the  union  has  a  way  of  taking  holidays  for  all  nation- 
alities whenever  a  particular  nationality  has  a  saint's  day. 

Of  course  the  isolation  of  the  mining  camp  brings  its  special 
problems,  a  peculiar  one  being  the  absence  of  the  wider  and 
higher  educational  opportunities.  The  situation  is  ripe  for  a 
—  large  movement  of  an  educational  kind,  based  on  instruction  in 
English,  with  the  addition  thereto  of  manual  training  and  house- 
hold economics  for  the  young  people  and  centers  of  amusement 
and  civic  education  for  all.  The  friendliness  of  the  mining 


348         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

companies  and  their  superintendents  toward  a  movement  of 
this  kind  would  be  insured  from  the  start,  while  the  strong 
organization  of  the  mine  workers,  reaching  every  individual, 
would  cooperate  if  the  enterprise  were  properly  launched. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  English-speaking  miners  do  not 
look  upon  their  own  position  with  that  degree  of  satisfaction 
shown  by  the  Slavs  and  Italians.  Although  they  are  not  leaving 
the  mines,  yet  they  are  the  ones  who  make  complaints  and  who 
lead  in  agitations  for  improved  wages  and  conditions.  Judging 
themselves  by  the  American  standards  with  which  they  are 
familiar,  their  inability  to  maintain  these  standards  on  the  earn- 
ings of  the  Slav  is  a  constant  source  of  irritation.  While  they 
come  to  the  front  in  the  Mine  Workers'  Union,  yet  the  union  has 
been  too  much  occupied  with  economic  questions  to  permit  time 
and  thought  for  educational  and  social  improvements.  This  line 
of  progress  must  be  inaugurated  by  the  operators,  and  there 
could  hardly  be  found  in  any  industry  a  field  more  receptive  for 
that  kind  of  interest  in  their  work  people  which  has  come  to  be 

known  as  " welfare  work." 

J.  R.  COMMONS. 


XVI 
THE   NEGRO   ARTISAN1 

.  .  .  Here  we  have  perhaps  the  best  key  to  the  situatio'n  in 
the  South  before  the  war ;  there  was  little  demand  for  skilled 
labor  in  the  rather  rude  economy  of  the  average  slave  plantation, 
and  the  Negro  did  the  most  of  this.  The  slave  artisan,  how- 
ever, was  rather  a  jack-of -all-trades  than  a  mechanic  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  term,  —  he  could  build  a  barn,  make  a 
barrel,  mend  an  umbrella,  or  shoe  a  horse.  Exceptional  slaves 
did  the  work  exceptionally  well,  but  the  average  workman  was 
poor,  careless,  and  ill  trained,  and  could  not  have  earned  living 
wages  under  modern  competitive  conditions.  While  then  it  is 
perfectly  true  to  say  that  the  slave  was  the  artisan  of  the  South 
before  the  war,  it  is  probably  also  true  that  the  average  of  work- 
manship was  low  and  suited  only  to  rough  plantation  life.  This 
does  not  of  course  gainsay  for  a  moment  the  fact  that  on 
some  of  the  better  plantations  and  in  cities  like  Richmond, 
Savannah,  Charleston,  and  New  Orleans  there  were  really 
first-class  Negro  workmen  who  did  good  work. 

Even  before  the  war  a  movement  of  slaves  to  the  cities  took 
place,  first  of  house  servants  with  the  masters'  families  and 
then  of  slave  artisans  ;  if  the  slave  was  a  good  artisan  he  was 
worth  more  hired  out  in  the  city  than  on  the  country  planta- 
tion. Moreover,  the  Negro  greatly  preferred  to  be  in  town,  since 
he  had  there  more  liberty,  more  associates,  and  more  excitement. 
Probably  in  time  there  would  have  been  evolved  in  the  South 
a  class  of  city  serf  artisans  and  servants  considerably  removed 

1  Extracts  from  The  Negro  Artisan  :  Report  of  a  Social  Study  made  under  the 
Direction  of  Atlanta  University.  Edited  by  W.  E.  Burghardt  Du  Bois.  Atlanta 
University  Press,  1902.  See  also  Hoffman,  "  Race  Traits  and  Tendencies  of  the 
American  Negro,"  Publications  of  the  American  Economic  Association^  Vol.  XI, 
pp.  250-309. 

349 


350        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

from  the  mass  of  field  hands.  It  is  significant  that  the  Georgia 
law  prohibiting  slaves  from  hiring  their  time  specifically  excepted 
certain  of  the  larger  towns. 

After  emancipation  came  suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  war  and 
social  upheaval,  the  first  real  economic  question  was  the  self- 
protection  of  freed  workingmen.  There  were  three  chief  classes 
of  them,  —  the  agricultural  laborers,  chiefly  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts ;  the  house  servants  in  town  and  country;  and  the  artisans, 
who  were  rapidly  migrating  to  town.  The  Freedmen's  Bureau 
undertook  the  temporary  guardianship  of  the  first  class,  the 
second  class  easily  passed  from  half-free  service  to  half-servile 
freedom.  The  third  class,  the  artisans,  however,  met  peculiar 
conditions.  They  had  always  been  used  to  working  under  the 
guardianship  of  a  master,  and  even  though  that  guardianship  in 
some  cases  was  but  nominal,  yet  it  was  of  the  greatest  value  for 
protection.  This  soon  became  clear  as  the  Negro  freed  artisan 
set  up  in  business  for  himself.  If  there  was  a  creditor  to  be 
sued,  he  could  no  longer  bring  suit  in  the  name  of  an  influential 
white  master ;  if  there  was  a  contract  to  be  had,  there  was  no 
responsible  white  patron  to  answer  for  the  good  performance 
of  the  work.  Nevertheless  these  differences  were  not  strongly 
felt  at  first,  since  the  friendly  patronage  of  the  former  master 
was  often  voluntarily  given  the  freedman,  and  for  some  years 
following  the  war  the  Negro  mechanic  still  held  undisputed 
sway.  Three  occurrences,  however,  soon  disturbed  the  situa- 
tion. These  were  the  competition  of  white  mechanics,  the 
efforts  of  the  Negro  for  self-protection,  and  the  new  industrial 
development  of  the  South. 

These  changes  were  spread  over  a  series  of  years  and  are 
not  yet  complete,  but  they  are  the  real  explanation  of  certain 
facts  which  have  hitherto  been  explained  in  false  and  inade- 
quate ways.  It  has  for  instance  been  said  repeatedly  that  the 
Negro  mechanic  carelessly  threw  away  his  monopoly  of  the 
southern  labor  market  and  allowed  the  white  mechanic  to  sup- 
plant him.  This  is  only  partially  true.  To  be  sure,  the  ex-slave 
was  not  alert,  quick,  and  ready  to  meet  competition.  His  busi- 
ness hitherto  had  been  to  do  work  but  not  to  get  work,  save  in 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  351 

exceptional  cases.  The  whole  slave  system  of  labor  saved  him 
from  certain  sorts  of  competition,  and  when  he  was  suddenly 
called  to  face  the  competition  of  white  mechanics  he  was  at  a 
loss.  His  especial  weakness  was  the  lack  of  a  hiring  contractor. 
His  master  or  a  white  contractor  had  usually  taken  jobs  and 
hired  him.  The  white  contractor  still  hired  him,  but  there  was 
no  one  now  to  see  that  the  contractor  gave  him  fair  wages. 
Indeed,  as  the  white  mechanics  pressed  forward,  the  only  refuge 
of  the  Negro  mechanic  was  lower  wages.  There  were  a  few 
Negro  contractors  here  and  there,  but  they  again  could  only 
hope  to  maintain  themselves  by  markedly  underbidding  all 
competitors  and  attaining  a  certain  standing  in  the  community. 
What  the  Negro  mechanic  needed  then  was  social  protection, 
—  the  protection  of  law  and  order,  perfectly  fair  judicial  pro- 
cesses, and  that  personal  power  which  is  in  the  hands  of  all 
modern  laboring  classes  in  civilized  lands,  namely,  the  right  of 
suffrage.  It  has  often  been  said  that  the  freedman,  throwing 
away  his  industrial  opportunities  after  the  war,  gave  his  ener- 
gies to  politics  and  succeeded  in  alienating  his  friends  and  exas- 
perating his  enemies  by  proving  his  inability  to  rule.  It  is 
doubtless  true  that  the  freedman  laid  too  much  stress  on  the 
efficacy  of  political  power  in  making  a  straight  road  to  real 
freedom.  And  undoubtedly,  too,  a  bad  class  of  politicians, 
white  and  black,  took  advantage  of  this  and  made  the  recon- 
struction Negro  voter  a  hissing  in  the  ears  of  the  South.  Not- 
withstanding this  the  Negro  was  fundamentally  right.  If  the 
whole  class  of  mechanics  here,  as  in  the  Middle  Ages,  had  been 
without  the  suffrage  and  half  free,  the  Negro  would  have  had 
an  equal  chance  with  the  white  mechanic  and  could  have 
afforded  to  wait.  But  he  saw  himself  coming  more  and  more 
into  competition  with  men  who  had  the  right  to  vote,  the  pres- 
tige of  race  and  blood,  the  advantage  of  intimate  relations  with 
those  acquainted  with  the  market  and  the  demand.  The  Negro 
saw  clearly  that  his  industrial  rise  depended  to  an  important 
degree  upon  his  political  power,  and  he  therefore  sought  that 
power.  In  this  seeking  he  failed,  primarily  because  of  his  own 
poor  training,  the  uncompromising  enmity  and  apprehensions 


352         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  his  white  neighbors,  and  the  selfishness  and  half-hearted 
measures  of  his  emancipators.  The  result  was  that  the  black 
artisan  entered  the  race  heavily  handicapped,  the  member  of 
a  proscribed  class,  with  restricted  rights  and  privileges,  with- 
out political  and  social  power.  The  result  was,  of  course,  that 
he  was  enabled  to  maintain  himself  only  by  accepting  low  wages 
and  keeping  at  all  hazards  the  good  will  of  the  community. 

Even  here,  however,  he  could  not  wholly  succeed.  The  indus- 
trial conditions  in  the  country  were  rapidly  changing.  Slowly 
but  surely  the  new  industrial  South  began  to  arise  and  with  it 
came  new  demands  on  the  mechanic.  Now  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case  the  Negro  mechanic  could  not  meet  these  demands. 
He  knew  how  to  do  a  few  things  by  rule  of  thumb,  such  as 
building  one  of  the  rambling  old-fashioned  southern  mansions 
or  a  slave  shanty ;  he  could  construct  a  rough  sugar  hogs- 
head and  resole  a  shoe  ;  in  exceptional  cases  he  could  do  even 
careful  and  ingenious  work  in  certain  lines ;  but,  as  a  rule,  he 
knew  little  of  the  niceties  of  modern  carpentry  or  iron  work- 
ing, he  knew  practically  nothing  of  mills  and  machinery  and 
very  little  about  railroads,  —  in  fact  he  was  especially  ignorant 
in  those  very  lines  of  mechanical  and  industrial  development  in 
which  the  South  has  taken  the  longest  strides  in  the  last  thirty 
years.  And  if  he  was  ignorant,  who  was  to  teach  him?  Cer- 
tainly not  his  white  fellow-workmen,  for  they  were  his  bitterest 
opponents  because  of  strong  race  prejudice  and  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  Negro  works  for  low  wages.  Apprenticeship  to 
the  older  Negro  mechanics  was  but  partially  successful,  for  they 
could  not  teach  what  they  had  never  learned.  In  fact  it  was 
only  through  the  lever  of  low  wages  that  the  Negro  secured 
any  share  in  the  new  industries.  By  that  means  he  was  enabled 
to  replace  white  laborers  in  many  branches,  but  he  thereby 
increased  the  enmity  of  trade  unions  and  labor  leaders.  Such 
in  brief  was  the  complicated  effect  of  emancipation  on  the 
Negro  artisan,  and  one  could  not  well  imagine  a  situation  more 
difficult  to  remedy. 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  353 

LOCAL  CONDITIONS  :   TEXAS  l 

We  have  always  had  among  us  some  men  who  have  been 
more  or  less  skillful  in  the  use  of  tools.  During  the  days  of 
slavery  these  men  built  the  houses,  made  the  plows,  carriages, 
and  wagons,  and  performed  nearly  all  that  class  of  labor.  The 
constant  doing  brought  to  them  experience,  and  experience 
ripened  into  a  degree  of  skill.  Slavery  was  their  trade  school 
and  experience  their  instructor.  After  the  Civil  War  these 
workmen  followed  the  trades,  and  at  first  they  had  the  field  to 
themselves. 

In  the  course  of  time  labor-saving  machines  were  introduced 
and  new  methods  of  doing  things  were  adopted  ;  the  old  work- 
man entered  a  new  era  ;  he  found  himself  face  to  face  with  new 
conditions ;  his  school  did  not  give  instruction  in  the  use  of 
machines  and  he  was  unable  to  keep  step  with  the  onward  march. 
Some  of  them  who  did  keep  up  have  finished  their  work  and 
gone  to  their  reward.  No  one  has  taken  the  vacant  places, 
and  to-day  the  ranks  of  Negro  artisans  need  —  sadly  need- 
recruiting. 

Texas  offers  great  opportunities  to  skilled  workmen  in  various 
trades.  Her  natural  resources  surpass  those  of  any  state  in  the 
Union.  It  is  her  proud  boast  that  within  her  broad  domain  is 
to  be  found  everything  from  a  salt  mine  to  an  oil  geyser.  These 
resources  are  but  partially  developed,  some  not  at  all.  The 
Negro  artisan  has  had  a  share  in  this  development,  and  will 
have  a  larger  share  in  the  future  provided  he  will  fit  himself 
for  this  larger  share.  I  have  had  opportunity  to  observe  condi- 
tions among  artisans  only  in  the  cities,  towns,  and  country 
districts  of  southern  Texas. 

Ours  being  an  agricultural  state,  blacksmiths  are  in  greater 
demand  than  perhaps  any  other  tradesman.  You  will  find  a 
Negro  blacksmith  in  nearly  every  town  and  at  every  country 
crossroad.  They  are  found  managing  shops  on  many  of  the 
large  cotton  and  sugar  plantations.  One  of  the  largest  sugar 

1  By  E.  H.  Holmes,  of  the  Prairie  View  Normal  School.  [The  Report  contains 
similar  contributions  from  other  states.  —  ED.] 


354 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 


farms  in  the  Southwest,  located  at  Sugarland,  Texas,  employs 
a  Negro  foreman  of  its  blacksmith  shop  at  a  salary  of  $1080 
per  year.  In  the  towns  the  majority  of  them  are  doing  business 
for  themselves  ;  a  few  own  their  shops  and  are  making  a  living 
and  accumulating  property.  There  are  still  others  who  work 
by  the  day  in  shops  owned  by  whites.  These  receive  wages 
according  to  their  skill.  White  men  having  the  same  degree  of 
skill  would  receive  no  more.  There  is  such  a  shop  at  Brenham, 
Texas.  Some  weeks  ago  the  owner  of  this  shop  stated  that  he 
worked  a  few  colored  men,  that  he  would  employ  more  if  they 
could  do  superior  work,  and  that  there  was  no  discrimination 
practiced  in  his  shop  ;  he  also  expressed  the  hope  that  our  school 
would  send  out  more  students  who  could  make  drawings  and 
work  from  drawings.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  the  percentage  of 
Negro  artisans  in  the  towns,  since  they  do  not  register  their 
occupations.  Whatever  is  known  must  be  learned  by  inquiry  or 
from  personal  contact.  Let  us  consider  conditions  at  Houston, 
Texas.  This  is  a  city  having  a  population  of  60,000,  one  third 
of  whom  are  Negroes.  It  is  in  every  respect  a  liberal  and  rep- 
resentative city.  There  are  seven  blacksmiths  who  own  and 
run  their  shops,  and  two  of  these  shops  employ  from  three 
to  five  workmen.  The  proprietors  make  a  good  living,  and 
nearly  all  of  them  own  their  homes.  The  largest  carriage  and 
iron  repair  shop,  owned  by  a  white  man,  employs  five  Negro 
blacksmiths  on  its  working  force.  Two  of  these  manage  their 
own  fires.  They  are  paid  according  to  skill,  although  sometimes 
discrimination  is  made  on  account  of  color.  Two  boiler  and 
foundry  shops  employ  Negro  workmen.  They  receive  the  regu- 
lar molders'  wages,  $4  per  day,  and  a  few  of  them  have  been 
in  the  service  of  the  firms  for  years.  The  Southern  Pacific 
Railway  System  employs  them  in  two  of  its  shops.  In  these 
shops  are  some  who  manage  their  fires,  one  who  operates  a 
steam  hammer,  some  who  build  and  repair  cars,  and  a  large 
number  of  helpers  who  rank  several  grades  above  common 
laborers.  A  few  of  these  men  have  been  steadily  employed  for 
twenty-five  years,  some  longer.  The  wages  range  from  1 5  to 
25  cents  per  hour,  according  to  skill.  It  might  be  of  interest 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  355 

to  remark  just  here  that  one  of  the  helpers  long  years  ago  was 
foreman  of  the  shop.  Time  and  improved  machinery  forced 
him  down.  So  far  as  employment  goes  there  is  practically  no 
discrimination  against  blacksmiths,  and  I  do  not  know  of  any 
blacksmiths'  union  in  the  whole  state. 

Carpenters  are  fewer  in  number  than  blacksmiths.  In  the 
small  towns  they  are  journeyman  workers.  As  a  class  they  do 
inferior  worl$.  Their  wages  range  from  $1.25  to  $2  per  day. 
White  journeymen  do  the  same  poor  quality  of  work  but  receive 
higher  wages.  Their  pay  ranges  from  $1.50  to  $2.50  per  day. 
The  best  carpenters  drift  to  the  cities,  because  the  people  there 
appreciate  and  demand  good  work  and  live  in  better  houses. 
Competition  is  sharp  and  the  labor  unions  are  strong.  In  the 
city  of  Houston  we  have  four  men  who  contract  for  themselves. 
They  do  good  work  and  find  ready  employment.  They  get 
contracts  not  exceeding  $2500.  In  the  same  city  are  several 
old  contractors  who  have  been  forced  to  retire  on  account  of 
close  competition.  Two  white  contractors  work  a  force  of 
Negro  and  a  force  of  white  carpenters,  separately  of  course. 
They  pay  according  to  skill,  white  and  black  alike.  More  dis- 
crimination is  shown  against  carpenters  than  against  any  other 
class  of  tradesmen.  Negro  carpenters  have  been  urged  to  form 
unions  which  would  affiliate  with  white  unions,  but  have  not 
thought  best  to  do  so.  They  know  that  they  would  be  called 
upon  to  strike  in  concert  with  the  other  unions,  and  they  feel  that 
in  the  end  they  would  get  the  worst  of  it.  As  long  as  they  find 
employment  they  prefer  to  work  independently  of  the  unions. 

Brickmasons  are  fewer  than  carpenters.  This  class  of  workers 
are  in  demand,  wages  are  high,  and  discrimination  is  reduced  to 
a  minimum.  There  are  no  brick  contractors  in  Houston,  and 
only  one  or  two  in  the  state.  Bricklayers  in  the  towns  are 
journeymen  and  most  of  them  do  a  good  grade  of  work;  wages 
are  from  $3  to  $4  per  day.  In  the  cities  wages  are  a  little 
better.  I  know  of  no  plasterers.  Sometimes  men  are  called  from 
New  Orleans  to  do  that  sort  of  work.  The  finest  plastering  in 
our  state  capitol  was  done  by  Negroes  brought  from  Chicago. 
Nearly  all  the  employees  in  the  cotton-seed-oil  mills  and  cotton 


356         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

compresses  are  Negroes.  They  are  not  all  common  laborers. 
It  requires  skill  to  operate  some  of  the  machines  and  to  get 
the  products  ready  for  market.  Wages  are  from  $1.50  to  $3 
per  day.  In  some  of  the  trades  we  do  not  find  the  Negro  at 
all,  or  if  found  they  are  so  few  that  they  do  not  count  in  trade 
competition.  Houston  has  no  shoemakers,  no  plumbers  and 
harness  makers,  and  I  know  of  but  one  tinner  in  the  state. 
These  are  the  conditions  as  they  now  exist  among  Texas  arti- 
sans. I  have  observed  that  any  man  who  knows  how  to  do 
something  and  knows  how  to  do  that  something  well  and  is 
willing  to  do  something  will  find  ready  employment.  Opportu- 
nities are  not  wanting,  but  many  times  when  these  opportunities 
present  themselves  we  are  not  able  to  grasp  them  because  of 
lack  of  training.  The  world  wants  trained  workmen,  men  whose 
trained  minds  will  direct  skilled  hands,  men  who  are  masters 
of  their  craft.  Not  more  than  three  per  cent  of  our  young  men 
in  Texas  are  entering  the  trades,  and  at  the  present  death  rate 
among  the  old  workmen  it  will  not  be  long  before  we  shall 
be  conspicuous  for  our  absence  from  all  the  trades.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  very  large  percentage  of  young  white  men  enter 
the  trades.  We  have  a  great  influx  of  emigrants  from  Europe. 
They  come  and  work  the  farms.  They  are  better  farmers  than 
any  one  else,  — they  make  a  crop,  rain  or  no  rain.  The  Ameri- 
can needs  rain  to  make  his  crop,  and  in  a  few  years  he  finds 
that  he  cannot  compete  with  the  foreigner  because  his  land  is 
too  poor.  He  abandons  the  farm  and  seeks  refuge  in  the 
trades,  or  he  moves  to  another  county  to  begin  farming  anew. 
There  are  some  reasons  why  our  young  men  avoid  the  trades. 
There  is  a  class  of  young  men  who  after  finishing  some  school 
course  do  not  believe  in  manual  labor,  skilled  or  unskilled. 
When  the  slaves  were  emancipated  their  first  thought  was  to 
send  their  children  to  school  like  the  white  folk,  to  dress  them 
like  white  children,  and  to  keep  them  from  work  like  the  white 
children.  To  do  any  sort  of  manual  labor  was  to  their  minds 
a  badge  of  humility  and  a  relic  of  slavery.  The  old  master  was 
a  gentleman  and  he  did  not  work ;  their  sons  must  be  like  him 
and  like  his  sons.  This  idea  was  taught  the  children  and  it 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  357 

has  grown  up  in  them  and  still  remains  in  them.  If  a  record 
could  be  made  of  all  that  these  dear  old  parents  suffered  and 
endured,  of  how  they  toiled  and  what  sacrifices  they  made,  that 
their  children  should  be  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  did  not  have 
to  work,  it  would  make  a  tale  far  more  pitiable  than  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin.  They  passed  from  the  slavery  of  the  white  man 
to  the  slavery  of  their  own  children. 

Another  hindrance  is  that  society  looks  down  upon  a  man 
who  works  with  his  hands,  however  much  skill  he  may  possess 
or  however  much  remuneration  that  skill  commands.  This  class 
distinction  does  not  exist  among  us  alone.  It  is  hard  to  see  how 
a  man  can  be  intelligent  and  at  the  same  time  be  a  mechanic. 
We  cannot  associate  the  two  ideas.  Fear  of  nonemployment 
keeps  another  class  from  entering  the  trades.  Those  who 
oppose  industrial  education  never  fail  to  present  this  argument, 
and  they  have  made  an  impression  on  some  which  nothing  but 
time  and  changed  conditions  will  ever  efface.  Another  class 
would  enter  the  world  of  workingmen  but  for  the  fact  that 
they  are  ambitious  to  excel  in  whatever  line  of  work  they  may 
choose,  but  to  become  an  intelligent  artisan  requires  years, 
long  years  of  hard  work  and  patient  study  on  short  pay.  They 
cannot  wait ;  results  are  too  long  coming.  Many  of  our  young 
men  who  do  follow  the  trades  are  not  living  up  to  the  full 
measure  of  their  opportunities.  In  the  first  place,  the  employer 
cannot  always  depend  upon  them.  They  are  just  as  likely  not 
to  come  to  work  at  the  appointed  time  as  they  are  to  come. 
It  matters  not  how  busy  the  employer  may  be  or  how  anxious 
he  is  to  finish  the  job,  our  young  workman  feels  that  he  is 
under  no  obligation  to  see  him  through.  He  feels  free  to 
take  a  day  off  and  go  fishing,  or  to  enjoy  himself  in  some 
other  way.  That 's  his  idea  of  liberty.  When  the  next  Negro 
workman  comes  along  and  asks  for  a  job  the  contractor  says, 
"No,  we  don't  want  any  more  Negroes."  Then  we  say  that 
that  man  is  prejudiced.  I  used  to  think  so,  too,  but  I  do  not 
think  so  now.  I  have  hired  some  of  them  myself,  and  I  know 
that  unreliability  has  kept  Negroes  out  of  more  good  jobs  than 
incompetency  ever  did.  Unsteadiness  is  another  barrier  to 


358         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

success.  In  the  lumber  district  of  eastern  Texas  there  are 
numerous  sawmills  which  run  the  year  round.  The  owners 
employ  Negro  workmen  for  places  requiring  skill  whenever 
they  can  be  found.  I  have  in  mind  one  man  who  has  been  with 
a  certain  firm  for  eighteen  years.  In  fact  he  has  been  with  the 
company  so  long  and  has  given  such  faithful  service,  the  mana- 
gers have  forgotten  that  he  is  a  Negro.  He  is  now  a  compe- 
tent sawyer  and  receives  $6  per  day.  The  sawyer's  place  at 
these  mills  is  perhaps  the  best-paying  place  of  all,  outside  the 
management.  The  wages  run  from  $4.50  to  $6  according 
to  skill.  The  places  are  open  to  Negroes  and  occasionally  they 
take  them,  but  after  working  for  ten  or  twelve  months  they 
conclude  that  they  have  made  enough  and  retire.  The  job  is 
too  steady.  I  do  not  mean  these  general  statements  to  apply 
to  all  our  workmen,  but  I  do  say  that  they  apply  to  the  major- 
ity. Our  artisan  must  be  more  competent,  more  faithful,  and 
more  reliable.  It 's  the  only  way  to  hold  what  we  have.  We 
must  be  progressive.  We  have  clung  to  the  old  ways  —  the 
methods  of  half  a  century  ago —  too  long.  If  we  do  not  make 
the  best  use  of  these  trade  advantages  which  are  now  ours,  we 
not  only  shut  ourselves  out  but  we  close  the  door  of  oppor- 
tunity in  the  faces  of  our  boys  who  expect  to  enter. 

THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  SKILLED  NEGROES  IN  THE  SOUTH 

In  1889  and  1891  the  Chattanooga  Tradesman  made  in- 
quiries into  the  status  of  Negro  labor  in  the  South.  The 
employers  questioned  in  1889  employed  7000  Negroes,  of  whom 
possibly  2000  were  skilled  or  semiskilled.  "  The  general  tenor 
of  the  replies  indicated  perfect  satisfaction  with  Negro  labor." 
In  1891  replies  were  received  from  the  employers  of  7395 
Negroes,  of  whom  978  were  skilled  and  many  semiskilled,  and 
the  editor  concluded  that  "the  -Negro  as  a  free  laborer,  as  a 
medium-skilled  and  common  worker,  is  by  no  means  a '  failure,' 
—  that  he  is  really  a  remarkable  success." 

In  1901  a  third  joint  investigation  into  Negro  skilled  labor 
was  made  by  the  Tradesman  and  the  Sociological  Department 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN 


359 


of  Atlanta  University.  It  was  not  an  exhaustive  inquiry  and 
there  is  no  way  of  knowing  what  proportion  of  the  employers 
of  skilled  Negro  laborers  were  reached.  In  1891  12  per 
cent  of  the  Negroes  employed  by  those  written  to  were  skilled 
or  semiskilled;  in  1901,  20  per  cent;  344  firms  answered 
in  1901,  employing  35,481  men,  of  whom  16,145  were  Negroes, 
and  2652  of  these  were  skilled  or  semiskilled  workmen.  The 
following  tabulation  is  made  in  answer  to  the  question  "  How 
do  Negroes  compare  in  efficiency  with  white  workmen  ? " 


Answers 

Establishments 
answering 

Negroes  employed 

Skilled 

Semiskilled 

17 

28 

23 

42 

43       * 
19 
4 
3 
9 

96 

135 
200 

382 

456 
665 

79 
34 
49 

38 

55 
57 

89 

145 

80 

7 

"  Not  as  good  "      .                        . 

"  Poor  average,  some  as  good  "    . 

"  Better  "  for  "  this  work  "  or  "  at  same  wages  " 
or  "  than  available  whites  "   
"  As  good  " 

"  Better  "  

No  answer     

"  Cannot  say  " 

"  Cannot  compare,  employ  no  whites  "      .     . 

Some  comments  were :  "  No  good,  but  the  white  help  is  mighty 
poor,  too."  "  Not  reliable  —  lack  judgment."  "Haven't  as  good 
hands  for  skilled  work."  "  Would  give  perfect  satisfaction  if 
they  were  steady."  "  Prompt,  willing,  and  steady,  but  lack  judg- 
ment." "  Not  as  quick  to  learn,  but  stick  closer  to  work."  "  More 
easily  controlled."  "As  good  or  better."  "  Perfect  satisfaction." 

The  employers  were  also  asked  the  question  "  What  effect 
has  this  education  had  ?  " 


Answers 

Establishments 
answering 

Negroes  employed 

Skilled 

Semiskilled 

<  Bad  effect  "     

16 

9 
4 
4 
5 
5 
i 
28 

73 
134 
30 
7 
41 
31 
40 

257 

66 
22 

57 

13 

89 

<  No  effect  "... 

'  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing  "    .     . 
'  Little  effect  "  .     . 

'  Cannot  say  "    

'  Helps  some,  hinders  others  "     

'  Would  help,  if  industrial  "     

'  Good  effect  "  . 

360        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Some  comments  follow : 

Think  they  feel  more  responsibility  than  the  ignorant  ones,  — 
want  more  and  are  more  willing  to  work  to  get  what  they  want. 

Somewhat  improved  by  it. 

The  education  has  had  a  good  effect  on  them  and  I  had  rather 
employ  these  Negroes  with  education  than  if  they  had  no  education. 

Educating  a  Negro  makes  him  worthless  as  a  laborer.  He  gets 
saucy  and  thinks  he  is  as  good  as  a  white  man.  Uneducated  Negroes 
give  no  trouble.  Educating  a  Negro  makes  him  mean  and  indolent. 
You  find  more  criminals  in  educated  Negroes  than  in  uneducated. 

Makes  them  better  citizens  by  giving  them  means  to  employ  their 
minds.  The  bad  Negro,  as  a  rule,  is  the  most  ignorant. 

There  is  some  more  indolence  and  disposition  to  loaf  among 
Negroes  who  have  a  smattering  of  education,  although  there  are 
exceptions.  We  would  much  prefer  to  have  a  man  who  can  at. least 
read,  write,  and  figure  a  little  than  one  entirely  ignorant,  provided  he 
is  a  steady  worker. 

Enables  them  to  undertake  more.  It  is  questionable  whether 
education  tends  to  modify  or  decrease  their  humility  toward  white 
men  ;  probably  it  does.  They  are  still,  on  the  whole,  inferior  to  the 
white  man. 

Can't  say,  except  in  our  opinion  it  follows  as  a  matter  of  course 
that  the  more  a  man  learns  the  more  he  is  worth. 

Has  done  but  little  good,  owing  to  lack  of  sense  to  start  with. 

We  believe  educating  the  Negro  is  having  the  effect  of  taking 
them  from  the  farms,  going  to  the  towns  and  cities  hunting  public 
works  at  better  pay.  This  is  but  natural,  and  we  believe  in  the  end 
will  prove  beneficial. 

We  can't  but  feel  that  education  improves  them.  Our  experience, 
though,  has  been  that  those  who  have  some  knowledge  of  books  are 
profligate.  This  may  be  due  to  bad  selection  on  our  part. 

What  kind?  We  guess  you  mean  training.  A  Negro  cannot  be 
educated.  We  only  want  a  Negro  with  educated  hands  and  bodies. 
Some  darkies  can  learn  to  read  and  write  a  little  —  and  just  then 
they  are  ready  and  ripe  for  the  penitentiary  or  for  Hades. 

From  our  observation  the  result  is  not  good  from  an  industrial 
standpoint,  our  opinion  being  that  the  trouble  is  that  the  little 
education  they  have  received  has  been  literary  instead  of  industrial. 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  361 

It  has  detracted  from  his  usefulness  in  positions  where  he  is  the 
most  useful,  such  as  hard  manual  labor,  without  fitting  him  to  take  a 
better  position  in  the  ranks  of  skilled  labor. 

We  have  but  few  positions  where  education  of  itself  would  be  of 
much  value.  Coupled  with  other  good  qualities  it  would  have  value. 
Our  colored  people  are  generally  self-respecting  and  we  believe  better 
because  of  their  steady  employment,  but  they  seem  to  lack  in  thrift, 
frugality,  and  in  saving  their  wages. 

We  believe  that  education  would  have  a  good  effect  if  with  it 
there  was  some  systemized  effort  to  make  them  property  owners  and 
to  build  up  a  healthy  interest  in  their  particular  community.  This 
does  not  seem  to  be  the  trend  of  affairs,  and  until  present  conditions 
change,  as  they  will  perhaps  sooner  than  any  of  us  think  now,  we  do 
not  look  for  much  radical  improvement. 

We  have  heard  a  good  deal  about  education  spoiling  the  colored 
man  as  a  laborer.  Our  experience  here,  however,  convinces  us  that 
the  better  he  is  educated  the  better  he  is  able  to  compete  with  the 
white  man  in  giving  close  attention  to  the  business  that  employers 
require  of  him,  thereby  giving  better  satisfaction  and  better  work. 
It  is  true  in  many  cases  that  an  education  seems  to  spoil  the  colored 
man,  but  we  think  he  would  be  spoiled  anyway,  just  the  same  as 
among  white  men  many  times  the  highly  educated  seem  to  feel 
themselves  above  doing  manual  labor. 

Some  general  comments  on  Negro  workmen  follow  : 

Yes,  they  understand  my  way  of  having  work  done  and  are  willing 
workers  when  treated  right.  I  never  allow  them  imposed  upon  by 
any  one  and  have  no  strikes.  They  are  the  best  judges  of  human 
nature  on  earth. 

The  most  satisfactory  sawyer,  shopman  (blacksmithing  and  wood- 
working), green-yard  fireman,  train-track  fireman,  logging-engine  fire- 
man, log  trippers,  cant-hook  man,  night  watchman,  edger  man,  trimmer 
man,  or  teamsters,  and  men  grading  lumber  in  sawmill,  are  all  Negroes. 

Best  laborers  we  can  get.  We  believe  the  Negro  the  best  laborer 
in  the  South. 

Are  more  tractable,  steadier,  and  can  be  depended  upon  in  their 
particular  places.  In  an  emergency  whites  have  better  judgment.  On 
the  whole  we  prefer  Negroes  where  it  is  possible  to  use  them. 

The  work  they  do  is  well  done  and  for  furnace  work  equally  as 
efficient  as  that  of  white  men  and  indeed  I  prefer  them. 


362         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Some  are  just  as  good  as  any  or  most  white  men,  while  a  greater 
number  are  just  as  poor  as  the  white  trash. 

After  living  in  the  South  for  twenty  years  and  employing  from  one 
to  twenty  Negroes  all  the  time  will  say  from  any  standard  there  are 
no  skilled  workmen  with  black  skins,  and  I  have  employed  the  best 
to  be  found  in  Montgomery  as  carpenters,  bricklayers,  engineers, 
firemen,  and  machine  operators. 

We  find  that  many  of  our  most  thrifty  and  intelligent  Negroes  are 
drifting  north  and  securing  employment  in  the  large  industries  about 
Pittsburg,  and  many  of  them  making  good  records  for  efficiency. 

We  have  just  this  day  begun  the  employment  of  Negro  molders 
for  our  stove  foundry.  We  have  been  employing  white  molders  for 
the  past  fifteen  years,  but  as  nearly  all  the  foundries  in  this  city  are 
employing  Negro  molders  and  seem  well  satisfied  with  the  result,  we 
decided  to  do  so  also.  We  believe  we  will  make  a  success  of  the 
venture,  but  will  not  be  able  to  answer  your  questions  until,  we  have 
had  them  at  work  for  a  while. 

We  consider  them  a  necessity  in  our  business,  because  white  labor 
is  not  obtainable.  Considering  the  condition  of  their  ancestry  and 
the  conditions  in  which  they  themselves  live,  I  think  they  are  doing 
very  well  indeed.  Future  generations  will  doubtless  see  the  race  in 
a  better  condition  and  more  intelligent,  making  better  citizens. 

In  this  line  they  are  much  superior  to  white  labor.  White  men 
would  not  stand  the  heat  and  grease.  We  don't  want  white  labor. 
They  are  too  prone  to  strike.  Give  them  the  earth  and  they  would 
strike  for  the  moon.  White  men  could  be  more  efficient  than  Negroes, 
but  they  won't.  * 

Do  the  same  work  and  obey  better ;  more  profit,  less  trouble. 

Some  of  them  display  excellent  judgment,  while  others  are  stupid. 
They  don't  expect  as  much  as  white  men  and  do,  if  anything,  more 
faithful  work  than  the  white  labor. 

The  younger  class  are  more  given  to  loafing  and  light  work.  When 
given  places  as  foremen,  or  semiresponsible,  they  are  usually  very 
exacting. 

A  Negro  is  a  Negro  with  us,  and  is  made  to  keep  his  place. 

The  white  workmen  do  not  like  to  work  side  by  side  with  the 
Negro  workmen.  However,  they  treat  them  politely,  and  there  is  the 
kindliest  feeling  between  whites  and  blacks  here. 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  363 

THE  ATTITUDE  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR 

The  attitude  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  may  be 
summed  up  as  having  passed  through  the  following  stages  : 

1.  The  ivorking  people  must  unite  and  organize  irrespective  of 
creed>  color,  sex,  nationality,  or  politics. 

This  was  an  early  declaration  but  was  not  embodied  in 
the  constitution.  It  was  reaffirmed  in  1897  after  opposition. 
Bodies  confining  membership  to  whites  were  barred  from 
affiliation. 

2.  Separate  charters  may  be  issued  to  central  labor  unions, 
local  unions,   or  federal  labor  unions  composed  exclusively  of 
colored  members. 

This  was  adopted  by  the  convention  of  ic)O2  and  recognizes, 
the  legality  of  excluding  Negroes  from  local  unions,  city  central 
labor  bodies,  and  so  forth. 

3 .  A  national  union  which  excludes  Negroes  expressly  by  con- 
stittitional  provision  may  affiliate  with  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor. 

No  official  announcement  of  this  change  of  policy  has  been 
made,  but  the  fact  is  well  known  in  the  case  of  the  railway 
trackmen,  telegraphers,  and  others. 

4.  A    national  union    already   affiliated  with   the  American 
Federation    of  Labor   may   amend   its    laws  so  as   to  exclude 
Negroes. 

This  was  done  by  the  stationary  engineers  at  their  Boston 
convention  in  1902,  and  an  attempt  in  the  same  line  was  made 
by  the  molders  at  their  convention  the  same  year.  The  Federa- 
tion has  taken  no  public  action  in  these  cases. 

This  is  a  record  of  struggle  to  maintain  high  and  just  ideals 
and  of  retrogression ;  the  broader-minded  labor  leaders,  like 
Samuel  Gompers,  have  had  to  contend  with  narrow  prejudice 
and  selfish  greed ;  it  is  a  struggle  parallel  with  that  of  the 
Negro  for  political  and  civil  rights,  and  just  as  black  Ameri- 
cans in  the  struggle  upward  have  met  temporary  defeat  in  their 
aspirations  for  civil  and  political  rights,  so  too  they  have  met 
a  rebuff  in  their  search  for  economic  freedom.  At  the  same 


364         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

time  there  are  to-day  probably  a  larger  number  of  effective 
Negro  members  in  the  trade  unions  than  ever  before ;  there 
is  evidence  of  renewed  inspiration  toward  mechanical  trades 
and  a  better  comprehension  of  the  labor  movement.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  industrial  upbuilding  of  the  South  has  brought 
to  the  front  a  number  of  white  mechanics  who  from  birth 
have  regarded  Negroes  as  inferiors  and  can  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  be  brought  to  regard  them  as  brothers  in  this  battle 
for  better  conditions  of  labor.  Such  are  the  forces  now  arrayed 
in  silent  conflict. 

With  reference  to  the  attitude  of  national  and  international 
organizations  of  the  several  trades  we  may  make  the  following 
list  in  the  order  of  increasing  hostility  toward  the  Negro : 

Miners  —  Welcome  Negroes  in  nearly  all  cases. 

Longshoremen  —  Welcome  Negroes  in  nearly  all  cases. 

Cigar  Makers  —  Admit  practically  all  applicants. 

Barbers — Admit  many,  but  restrain  Negroes  when  possible. 

Seamen  —  Admit  many,  but  prefer  whites. 

Firemen  —  Admit  many,  but  prefer  whites. 

Tobacco  Workers  —  Admit  many,  but  prefer  whites. 

Carriage  and  Wagon  Workers  —  Admit  some,  but  do  not  seek  Negroes. 

Brickmakers — Admit  some,  but  do  not  seek  Negroes. 

Coopers — Admit  some,  but  do  not  seek  Negroes. 

Broom  Makers  —  Admit  some,  but  do  not  seek  Negroes. 

Plasterers —  Admit  freely  in  the  South  and  a  few  in  the  North. 

Carpenters — Admit  many  in  the  South,  almost  none  in  the  North. 

Masons — Admit  many  in  the  South,  almost  none  in  the  North. 

Painters  —  Admit  a  few  in  the  South,  almost  none  in  the  North. 

The  evidence  on  which  the  above  is  based  cannot  all  be  given 
here  ;  it  is,  however,  pretty  conclusive.  There  are,  for  instance, 
numbers  of  competent  Negro  painters,  carpenters,  and  masons  ; 
yet  who  has  seen  one  at  work  in  a  northern  city  ?  There 
are  numbers  of  brickmakers,  wheelwrights,  and  coopers,  but  few 
have  been  brought  into  the  unions  and  in  the  North  few  can 
get  in.  The  seamen,  firemen,  and  tobacco  workers  have  many 
Negroes,  but  Negroes  fear  to  join  them  lest  by  demanding 
union  wages  their  white  fellow-workmen  will  hasten  to  sup- 
plant them.  This  has  virtually  been  admitted  by  labor  leaders 
and  others.  A  South  Carolina  employer  says  that  among 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  365 

bricklayers  of  equal  skill  Negroes  receive  $1.75  and  whites 
$2.50  a  day,  and  "the  object  of  the  white  men  in  organizing 
the  Negroes  is  to  get  them  to  demand  the  same  wages  that  the 
whites  demand."  Messrs.  Garrett  and  Houston,  president  and 
secretary  of  the  Georgia  Federation,  confirm  this,  as  do  many 
others,  and  the  secretary  of  the  Southern  Industrial  Con- 
vention adds:  "There  is  discrimination  even  in  the  union. 
The  white  members  try  to  get  employment  for  each  other  and 
to  crowd  out  the  colored  members."  The  same  thing  occurs 
in  the  North ;  now  and  then  a  Negro  is  admitted  to  a  union, 
but  even  then  he  stands  less  chance  of  getting  work  than  a 
white  man. 

Local  Option  in  the  Choice  of  Members.  The  general  attitude 
of  the  Federation  of  Labor,  and  even  of  the  national  unions, 
has  little  more  than  a  moral  effect  in  the  admission  of  Negroes 
to  trade  unions.  The  present  constitution  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor  admits  members  "at  the  option  of  each  local  assembly." 
The  real  power  of  admission  in  nearly  all  cases  rests  with  the 
local  assemblies,  by  whose  vote  any  person  may  be  refused,  and 
in  a  large  number  of  cases  a  small  minority  of  any  local  may 
absolutely  bar  a  person  to  whom  they  object.  The  object  of 
this  is  to  keep  out  persons  of  bad  character,  or  sometimes 
incompetent  workmen.  In  practice,  however,  it  gives  the  local 
or  a  few  of  its  members  a  monopoly  of  the  labor  market  and  a 
chance  to  exercise,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  their  prejudices 
against  foreigners  or  Negroes. 

The  following  unions  require  a  majority  vote  for  admission 
to  the  locals  : 

Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  Amalgamated  Engineers 

Amalgamated  Carpenters  Metal  Polishers 

Bottle  Blowers  Stove  Mounters 

Glass  Workers  Bakers 

Wood  Workers  Barbers 

Coopers  Steam  Engineers 

Stogy  Makers  Coal-Hoisting  Engineers 

The  wood  workers,  coal-hoisting  engineers,  and  coopers  re- 
quire an  examining  committee  in  addition. 


366         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  following  require  a  two-thirds  vote  for  admission  to  the 
locals  : 

Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  Sheet-Metal  Workers 

Painters  Pattern  Makers 

Tile  Layers  Tin-Plate  Workers 

Flint-Glass  Workers  Broom  Makers 
Iron  and  Steel  Workers 

Nearly  all  these  require  also  the  favorable  report  of  an 
examining  committee.  Among  the  iron  and  steel  workers  two 
black  balls  can  make  a  second  election  necessary. 

The  following  unions  require  more  than  a  two-thirds  vote 
for  admission  : 

Electrical  Workers,  two-thirds  vote,  plus  one,  and  examination. 

Molders,  two-thirds  vote,  plus  one. 

Core  Makers,  two-thirds  vote,  plus  one. 

Boiler  Makers,  three  black  balls  reject. 

Blacksmiths,  three  black  balls  reject,  two  require  second  election. 

Street  Railway  Employees,  three-fourths  vote. 

Leather  Workers  (horse  goods),  three  black  balls  reject. 

The  Typographical  Union  and  printing  pressmen  and  many 
others  leave  all  questions  of  admission  to  the  local  unions  abso- 
lutely, except  that  an  appeal  lies  to  the  national  union.  In 
nearly  all  cases  save  that  of  the  cigar  makers  the  adverse  vote 
of  a  local  practically  bars  the  applicant.  It  is  here  and  not 
usually  in  the  constitutions  of  the  national  bodies  that  the 
color  line  is  drawn  ruthlessly  in  the  North. 

In  like  manner  the  methods  regulating  apprenticeship  mili- 
tate against  Negroes  in  nearly  all  the  trades.  Many  unions, 
like  the  hatters,  trunk  makers,  printers,  stonecutters,  glass 
workers,  and  others,  limit  the  number  of  apprentices  according 
to  the  journeymen  at  work.  Very  often,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
hatters,  the  union  prescribes  the  terms  of  apprenticeship  and 
oversees  the  details.  In  the  case  of  the  coal-hoisting  engineers, 
elastic-goring  weavers,  and  some  others,  the  consent  of  the 
local  must  be  obtained  before  any  particular  apprentice  is 
admitted.  In  other  cases  there  are  age  limits,  and  there  is  very 
general  demand  among  the  unions  for  still  more  rigid  regula- 
tion and  the  use  of  articles  of  indenture.  Strong  unions  go  so 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  367 

far  as  to  refuse  to  recognize  a  workman  who  has  not  served  his 
apprenticeship  in  a  union  shop,  or  begun  it  between  the  ages  of 
seventeen  and  eighteen.  The  tin-plate  union  especially  enjoins 
its  members  from  teaching  their  trade  to  any  unskilled  work- 
ingmen  about  the  mills.  The  black  boy  who  gets  a  chance  to 
learn  a  trade  under  such  circumstances  would  indeed  be  a 
curiosity. 

Summary  of  the  Attitude  of  Organized  Labor.  Putting  the 
strength  of  organized  labor  in  the  United  States  at  the  con- 
servative estimate  of  1,200,000,  we  may  summarize  the  situation 
as  follows : 

Unions  with  500,000  members  include  40,000  Negroes. 
Unions  with  200,000  members  include  1000  Negroes. 
Unions  with  500,000  members  include  no  Negroes. 

The  ruleof  admission  of  Negroes  to  unions  throughout  the 
country  is  the  sheer  necessity  of  guarding  work  and  wages.  In 
those  trades  where  large  numbers  of  Negroes  are  skilled  they 
find  easy  admittance  in  the  parts  of  the  country  where  their 
competition  is  felt.  In  all  other  trades  they  are  barred  from 
the  unions,  save  in  exceptional  cases,  either  by  open  or  silent 
color  discrimination.  There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule.  There 
are  cases  where  the  whites  have  shown  a  real  feeling  of  brother- 
hood; there  are  cases  where  the  blacks  through  incompetence 
and  carelessness  have  forfeited  their  right  to  the  advantages  of 
organization.  But  on  the  whole  a  careful,  unprejudiced  survey 
of  the  facts  leads'  one  to  believe  that  the  above  statement  is 
approximately  true  all  over  the  land. 

The  president  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  writes  : 

It  has  been  and  is  now  our  endeavor  to  organize  the  colored 
workers  whenever  and  wherever  possible.  We  recognize  the  neces- 
sity of  this  if  it  is  hoped  to  secure  the  best  possible  conditions  for 
the  workers  of  every  class  in  our  country.  I  should  say  that  your 
statement  is  neither  fair  nor  accurate.  After  careful  perusal  of  the  sum- 
ming up  of  the  attitude  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  toward  colored  workmen 
I  should  say  that  you  are  inclined  not  only  to  be  pessimistic  upon  the 
subject  but  you  are  even  unwilling  to  give  credit  where  credit  is  due. 


368         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

THE  EMPLOYER,  THE  ARTISAN,  AND  THE  RIGHT  OF  SUFFRAGE 

A  few  quotations  throw  an  interesting  side  light  on  the 
suffrage  question  in  the  South  and  its  relation  to  the  Negro. 
The  last  Southern  Industrial  Convention  at  Chattanooga  said  : 

We  recommend  that  every  possible  means  shall  be  used  to  educate 
the  public  sentiment  of  the  South  to  regard  the  Negro  as  a  factor  in 
the  upbuilding  of  the  South,  and  that  as  such  we  should  use  all 
possible  means  to  make  him  as  efficient  as  possible,  and  pledge  him 
the  fullest  guaranty  of  earning  a  living  in  every  honest  field  of  honest 
endeavor,  and  protection  in  his  God-given  right  of  self-support. 

A  prominent  southerner  said  before  the  Industrial  Com- 
mission : 

I  believe  that  in  the  Negro  labor  of  the  South  lies  the  panacea  for 
the  wrongs  frequently  committed  by  organized  labor  and  a  reserve 
force  from  which  can  be  supplied  any  needed  number  of  workers 
when  the  time  shall  come  when  they  shall  be  needed. 

Most  workingmen  in  the  South  laugh  at  such  threats  because 
they  are  certain  the  Negro  cannot  become  a  formidable  competi- 
tor in  skilled  labor.  A  writer  in  the  Holders  Journal  makes 
considerable  fun  of  the  exaggerated  predictions  as  to  the  Negro 
molder  and  writes  him  down  as  a  "  dismal  failure."  Another 
writer,  however,  takes  the  previous  one  to  task  and  asserts  that  he 

will  woo  us  into  a  sense  of  fancied  security  and  induce  us  to  look 
upon  the  Negro  problem  in  our  trade  as  one  that  will  solve  itself  by 
the  Negro's  demonstrating  his  incapacity  and  being  ignominiously 
dismissed  from  the  foundry. 

That  is  very  flattering  to  our  vanity,  but  it  is  contrary  to  facts.  I 
believe  I  am  well  within  the  mark  when  I  say  that  in  the  last  twenty 
years  Negro  molders  have  increased  five  hundred  per  cent,  and  that 
excluding  the  Negro  pipe  molders,  whom  I  do  not  class  as  skillful 
mechanics,  I  know  of  two  foundries  at  least  where  the  molding  is  done 
entirely  by  Negroes,  —  three  if  we  include  the  Ross-Mehan  annex  in 
Chattanooga.  There  is  the  one  at  the  foot  of  Lookout  Mountain  and 
another  in  Rome,  Georgia.  A  few  years  ago  a  mere  handful  of  Negroes 
worked  at  molding  in  Chattanooga ;  to-day  there  are  over  two  hun- 
dred ;  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  question  of  what  shall  be  done  with 


THE  NEGRO  ARTISAN  369 

the  Negro  molder  is  one  which  in  the  very  near  future  will  demand 
more  of  our  attention,  if  we  would  maintain  for  ourselves  fair  wages 
and  conditions  in  the  South.1 

On  the  other  hand,  a  white  speaker  in  the  Tenth  Barbers' 
Convention  said : 

Is  the  disfranchisement  of  the  Negro  the  first  step  toward  making 
history  repeat  itself?  I  for  one  will  not  believe  it,  as  I  have  too  much 
confidence  in  American  manhood  to  think  that  they  will  allow  it. 
Those  of  you  who  live  in  the  South  may  feel,  you  may  even  say,  it 
is  right,  and  then  I  will  say  to  you,  If  it  is  right  to  deny  the  right  of 
franchise  to  any  American  citizen,  though  his  color  or  nationality  be 
what  it  may,  then  it  may  be  your  turn  to-morrow,  because  those  who 
seek  to  disfranchise  the  Negro  to-day  will  seek  to  extend  their  power 
by  disfranchising  you  to-morrow.  Our  protection  for  to-morrow  calls 
on  us  to  protest  in  favor  of  the  disfranchised  Negro  of  to-day. 

Here,  then,  are  the  four  great  forces  :  the  northern  laborer, 
the  southern  laborer,  the  Negro,  and  the  employer.  The  south- 
ern laborer  and  the  employer  have  united  to  disfranchise  the 
Negro  and  make  color  a  caste  ;  the  northern  laborer  is  striving 
to  make  the  whites  unite  with  the  Negroes  and  maintain  wages  ; 
the  employer  threatens  that  if  they  do  raise  labor  troubles 
he  will  employ  Negroes.  The  Northern  laborer  sees  here  the 
danger  of  a  disfranchised,  degraded,  and  yet  skilled  competitor, 
and  raises  the  note  of  warning.  Is  not  this  a  drama  worth  the 
watching  ? 

SUMMARY 

We  have  studied  in  considerable  detail  the  history  of  the 
Negro  artisan,  the  condition  of  Negro  mechanics  throughout 
the  country,  the  attitude  of  organized  labor  toward  the  Negro, 
and  the  opinions  of  employers.  On  the  whole  the  survey  has 
been  encouraging,  although  there  is  much  to  deplore  and  criti- 
cise. Our  conclusions  may  be  summed  up  as  follows : 

i.  Slavery  trained  artisans,  but  they  were  for  the  most  part 
careless  and  inefficient.  Only  in  exceptional  cases  were  they 
first-class  mechanics. 

1  See  Chattanooga  Tradesman,  November  i,  1901. 


370        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

2.  Industrial  schools   are   needed.    They  are  costly  and  as 
yet  not  well  organized   or  very  efficient,  but  they  have  given 
the  Negro  an  ideal  of  manual  toil  and  helped  to  a  better  under- 
standing between  whites  and  Negroes  in  the  South.    Eventu- 
ally they  may  be  expected  to  send  out  effective  artisans,  as  they 
have  already  begun  to  do. 

3.  There  are  a  large  number  of  Negro  mechanics  all  over 
the  land  but  especially  in  the  South.    Some  of  these  are  pro- 
gressive, efficient  workmen.    More  are  careless,  slovenly,  and 
ill  trained.    There  are  signs  of  lethargy  among  these  artisans 
and  work  is  slipping  from  them  in  some  places ;  in  others  they 
are  awakening  and  seizing  the  opportunities  of  the  new  indus- 
trial South. 

4.  The  labor  unions,  with  1,200,000  members,  have  less  than 
40,000  Negroes,  mostly  confined  to  a  few  unions  and  largely 
semiskilled  laborers  such  as  miners.     Some  labor  leaders  have 
striven   against  color  prejudice,  but  it   exists  and  keeps  the 
mass  of  Negroes  out  of  many  trades.    This  leads  to  complicated 
problems,  both  industrial,  political,  and  social. 

5.  Employers  on  the  whole  are  satisfied  with  Negro  skilled 
labor  and  many  of  them  favor  education  as  tending  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  Negroes.    Others  think  it  will  spoil  the  docility 
and  tractableness  of  Negro  labor.    The  employment  of  Negro 
skilled  labor  is  slowly  increasing. 

6.  The  Negro  evinces  considerable  mechanical  ingenuity. 
On  the  whole  this  study  of  a  phase  of  the  vast  economic 

development  of  the  Negro  race  in  America  but  emphasizes  the 
primal  and  emphatic  need  of  intelligence.  The  situation  is 
critical  and  developing  swiftly.  If  the  Negro  is  deftly  guided 
with  the  larger  wisdom  of  men  and  deeper  benevolence  of  great 
hearts,  an  outcome  of  good  to  all  cannot  be  doubted.  If  he  is 
muddled  by  half-trained  men  and  guided  by  selfish  and  sordid 
interests,  all  the  evils  of  industrial  history  may  easily  be  repeated 
in  the  South.  "  Wisdom  [then]  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore 
get  wisdom:  and  with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding" 


XVII 

WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE1 

I.  THE  FACTORY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  OVERALLS  TRADE 

.  .  .  The  manufacture  of  overalls  and  workingmen's  garments 
is  the  branch  of  the  clothing  industry  into  which  the  factory 
system  was  first  introduced  and  in  which  it  is  now  most  largely 
employed.  As  early  as  1871  there  was  in  Wappinger's  Falls, 
New  York,  the  nucleus  of  the  establishment  that  claims  to 
have  been  the  first  overalls  factory  in  the  United  States.  .  .  . 
There  are  at  least  three  reasons  for  the  early  use  of  machines 
run  by  mechanical  power  in  this  line  of  work.  First,  it  is  harder 
to  drive  a  needle  through  the  closely  woven  cotton  fabrics  of 
which  these  suits  are  made  than  through  woolen  goods.  Second, 
the  work  is  less  complicated  than  that  on  regularly  tailored  suits, 
and  it  is  consequently  of  advantage  to  be  able  to  keep  up  a 
constant  high  rate  of  speed.  Third,  it  is  work  that  can  well  be 
done  by  women,  but  the  use  of  foot-power  machines  would  have 
made  it,  in  some  cases  at  least,  more  difficult  to  increase  rapidly 
the  number  of  operatives  of  the  class  desired. 

During  the  year  1900  there  were  2901  people  in  New  York 
state  engaged  in  making  overalls  and  workingmen's  suits.2 
These  were  found  in  thirty-four  establishments.  The  average 
number  of  employees  in  a'  factory  was  therefore  eighty.  This  is 
in  marked  contrast  to  the  situation  that  we  have  found  in  other 
branches  of  the  ready-made  clothing  trade.  If  our  official  sta- 
tistics on  this  subject  are  of  any  value  they  establish  two  facts  : 

1  From  Chapters  VII  and  IX  of  "  The  Employment  of  Women  in  the  Cloth- 
ing Trade,"  Columbia  University  Studies  in  History,  Economics,  and  Public  Law, 
Vol.  XVI,  pp.  298-312,  329-360. 

2  Compiled  from  the  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Factory  Inspector  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  1900. 

371 


372         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

first,  that  the  overalls  industry  is  carried  on  chiefly  under  the 
factory  system ;  second,  that  it  flourishes  in  small  cities. 
Among  overalls  manufacturers,  however,  there  is  an  impression 
that  large  quantities  of  the  cheaper  grades  of  overalls  are  made 
in  New  York  City  in  shops  in  which  the  operatives  are  chiefly 
Jewish  or  Polish  men.  Neither  the  reports  of  the  factory 
inspectors  nor  the  opinions  of  labor  leaders  familiar  with  the 
situation  in  the  clothing  trade  in  the  city  justify  this  opinion. 
It  is  difficult  to  find  half  a  dozen  such  shops,  and  while  a  small 
number  certainly  exist,  I  find  no  reason  to  think  that  they 
manufacture  any  appreciable  percentage  of  the  total  output. 

Because  of  the  relatively  unimportant  position  held  by  New 
York  City  in  this  branch  of  the  clothing  trade  I  have  extended  my 
investigations  to  include  Newburg,  New  York,  a  city  frequently 
referred  to  as  the  center  of  the  overalls  trade.  .  .  .  There  three 
establishments,  and  in  fact  overalls  factories  in  general,  are 
under  the  direct  control  of  the  manufacturer.  The  contractor 
does  not  appear,  and  no  work  is  given  out  to  be  done  in  the 
homes.  The  factory  serves  all  purposes.  Here  the  garments 
are  cut,  and  are  made  up  on  machines  driven  by  steam,  gas, 
or  electricity;  buttonholes  are  made  and  buttons  sewed  on  by 
machinery;  and  the  completed  goods  are  packed  and  shipped 
directly  to  the  retail  dealer.  The  output  of  these  factories  is 
large,  and  the  variety  of  goods  manufactured  in  them  is  note- 
worthy. There  are  overalls  of  all  kinds,  unlined  duck  coats, 
pants  made  of  various  kinds  of  cotton  goods,  and  sometimes 
even  woolen  suits,  which  are  of  a  substantial  character  but 
lack  the  cut  and  finish  that  a  tailor  would  give.  Many  factories, 
however,  probably  a  majority  of  them,  confine  themselves  to 
the  manufacture  of  the  various  styles  of  cotton  suits  needed  by 
men  working  at  trades. 

In  such  factories  the  division  of  labor  between  the  sexes  is 
almost  everywhere  the  same.  The  cutting,  whether  done  by 
machinery  or  by  hand,  is  under  the  charge  of  men,  and  they 
alone  are  found  also  in  the  shipping  department.  With  rare 
exceptions  all  the  work  of  making  garments  is  done  by  women. 
They  form  83  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  employees  in  the 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  373 

factories  in  New  York  state  engaged  in  making  overalls  and 
workingmen's  clothing.  The  17  per  cent  comprising  the  men 
are  found  in  the  two  departments  before  mentioned. 

Except  in  the  establishments  where  woolen  suits  as  well  as 
cotton  are  made  up,  nearly  all  the  women,  certainly  more  than 
90  per  cent  of  them,  are  employed  in  stitching  up  the  garments. 
The  remainder  put  on  buttons,  bars,  or  tags,  or  make  button- 
holes by  machine,  or  serve  as  examiners  of  the  work.  The  woolen 
suits  require  some  hand  finishing.  This  work  does  not  differ  much 
from  the  finishing  work  previously  considered.  The  method  in 
which  a  pair  of  overalls,  a  duck  coat,  or  a  pair  of  cotton  pants  is 
stitched  up  by  machinery  differs  somewhat  in  different  factories. 
It  is  common  to  find  that  the  entire  garment  is  sewed  up  by  a 
single  girl.  In  the  case  of  overalls  she  may  do  all  the  stitching 
except  on  one  seam,  which  is  sewed  on  a  double-needle  ma- 
chine. Sometimes,  however,  we  find  section  work,  but  even  this 
involves  a  very  slight  division  of  labor.  For  example,  the  work 
may  be  divided  among  three  girls,  each  of  whom  has  only  a 
particular  part  to  do.  Usually  a  girl  has  to  understand  not  only 
how  to  put  together  an  entire  garment  of  a  certain  kind  but 
even  how  to  make  up  several  kinds  of  garments.  It  is  cus- 
tomary to  divide  the  operators  in  a  factory  into  coat  operators, 
pants  operators,  and  overalls  operators.  This  means,  however, 
that  each  of  the  girls  has  her  special  kind  of  garment  to  make 
only  when  there  is  plenty  of  work  of  all  kinds.  .  .  . 

It  is  contrary  to  the  practice  of  these  three  factories  to  admit 
girls  under  16  years  of  age.  Of  the  900  women  employed  only 
3  were  below  that  limit.  On  the  other  hand,  the  work  demands 
quickness  of  movement,  and  the  superintendents  state  frankly 
that  they  have  no  use  for  a  woman  over  45.  Probably  none 
even  of  that  age  would  be  taken  on,  but  individual  instances 
may  be  found  where  women  as  old  as  62  are  still  retained  in 
the  factory.  A  large  majority  of  the  employees  are  strong, 
healthy-looking  women  of  between  20  and  30  years  of  age. 
The  girls  entering  the  factory  have  in  almost  all  cases  gradu- 
ated from  the  grammar  schools,  and  some  of  them  both  speak 
and  write  with  considerable  force  and  ability.  .  .  . 


374         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  somewhat  varied  nature  of  the  work  required,  especially 
the  necessity  of  passing  from  one  kind  of  work  to  another, 
demands  some  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the  worker.  Quick- 
ness of  movement  is  perhaps  the  primary  requisite  of  a  good 
machine  operator  in  this  line  of  work.  But  it  is  noticeable  that 
the  brightest  girls,  provided  they  take  an  interest  in  their  work, 
not  only  learn  it  in  the  least  time  but  also  become  usually  the 
most  rapid  workers.  Ability  to  concentrate  attention  is  abso- 
lutely essential.  For  this  reason  there  is  a  class  of  girls  that 
have  been  especially  successful,  the  deaf-mutes.  In  spite  of 
the  constant  whir  and  buzz  of  machinery  in  the  large  rooms 
and  the  movement  of  passing  people,  nothing  distracts  their 
attention.  .  .  . 

Few  of  the  women  are  married,  and  none  of  those  who  marry 
do  so  with  the  expectation  of  remaining  at  their  work.  Misfor- 
tune, however,  may  send  them  back  to  it.  There  are  several 
cases  on  record  where  former  operators  have  returned  to  the 
factory  after  the  death  of  their  husbands,  and  have  been  able 
to  bring  up  their  children  on  their  earnings.  Opposite  one  of 
the  large  Newburg  factories  is  a  day  nursery,  where  children 
are  cared  for  while  their  mothers  are  at  work.  The  attendant 
in  charge  says  that  she  has  never  had  more  than  three  children 
whose  mothers  were  working  in  the  overalls  factory,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  it  employs  between  five  hundred  and  six  hundred 
women.  Of  this  number  about  five  per  cent,  according  to  the 
superintendent,  leave  every  year  to  marry. 

The  popular  .idea  of  a  clothing  factory  has  been  formed 
largely  from  the  distressing,  and  unfortunately  true,  descrip- 
tions that  have  from  time  to  time  appeared  of  the  small,  ill- 
ventilated,  and  dirty  clothing  shops  in  the  Jewish  quarter  of 
New  York  City.  Yet  the  workingman  who  buys  a  pair  of  over- 
alls for  seventy-five  cents,  especially  if  it  bears  a  union  label, 
may  be  reasonably  sure  that  it  was  made  up  under  sanitary 
conditions  that  could  not  easily  be  improved.  The  New  York 
factory  under  consideration  is  not  a  large  one,  but  it  is  well 
lighted,  and  the  employees  are  provided  with  all  conveniences. 
No  employee  has  a  word  of  private  criticism  to  make  in  this 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  375 

respect.  The  Newburg  establishments  are  large  and  are 
especially  adapted  to  the  work  to  be  performed.  In  one  the 
light  comes  entirely  from  overhead,  in  order  that  it  may  be  less 
trying  to  the  eyes.  In  both  factories  there  is  an  evident  and 
an  intelligent  effort  made  to  provide  everything  that  may  be 
conducive  to  better  work  or  to  greater  comfort  on  the  part  of 
the  employees.  The  supply  of  operators  is  here  scarcely  equal 
to  the  demand  for  them,  and  this  fact  forms  an  additional  incen- 
tive to  consideration  for  their  welfare. 

In  the  Newburg  factories  the  regular  ten-hour  working  day 
is  observed.  It  extends  from  7  A.M.  to  6  P.M.,  with  one  hour 
intermission  for  dinner.  The  doors  are  closed  at  7.05  A.M.  and 
1.05  P.M.,  and  any  employee  not  within  the  building  at  that 
time  loses  his  half-day's  work.  These  hours  of  work  are  the 
ones  generally  observed  in  the  overalls  factories.  The  shortest 
regular  working  day  of  which  I  know  is  that  of  a  large  and 
prominent  western  factory.  Here  a  nine-hour  day  is  observed, 
with  a  Saturday  half  holiday  throughout  the  year,  and  no  work 
overtime  is  permitted.  .  .  . 

Employment  is  regular  throughout  the  year  in  all  these 
three  factories,  except  during  the  ten  days  or  two  weeks  when 
account  of  stock  is  taken.  The  legal  holidays  are  of  course 
observed.  Occasionally  there  is  not  sufficient  work  to  keep  all 
classes  of  employees  busy,  but  this  is  unusual.  The  operators 
have  work  practically  all  the  time.  It  seems  a  surprising  thing 
to  find  clothing  establishments  in  which  the  women,  instead  of 
complaining  of  lack  of  work  during  part  of  the  year,  actually 
absent  themselves  from  work  at  times  because  they  wish  to  do 
other  things.  There  are  two  reasons  why  employment  is  more 
regular  in  the  manufacture  of  overalls  and  workingmen's 
garments  than  in  other  branches  of  the  clothing  trade.  The 
primary  reason  is  found  in  the  facts  that  styles  are  less  fre- 
quently changed  and  that  the  demand,  especially  for  certain 
classes  of  garments,  is  less  rigidly  determined  by  the  season. 
Of  course  there  are  certain  months  when  orders  come  in  more 
frequently,  as  the  spring  months  in  the  overalls  trade,  but  it  is 
possible  to  forecast  the  future  demand  to  quite  an  extent,  and 


376         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

working  for  stock  commonly  supplements  the  order  work 
during  the  dull  season.  The  second  reason  for  steady  employ- 
ment, but  one  that  would  remain  inoperative  without  the  first, 
is  found  in  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  plants.  The 
capital  must  not  be  permitted  to  lie  idle.  The  absence  of  girls 
from  work,  especially  in  the  busy  season,  is  regarded  as  a  posi- 
tive injury  to  the  employer,  since  their  machines  stand  idle. 
No  definite  regulations  have  been  adopted,  however,  by  the 
manager  of  any  of  these  three  factories  to  restrict  this  evil. 
The  relations  existing  between  the  management  and  the  em- 
ployees are  in  general  friendly,  and  when  there  is  a  special 
pressure  of  work  a  request  is  made  that  there  be  as  few 
absences  as  possible.  Such  a  request  is  usually  heeded. 
Special  admonitions  may  be  resorted  to  in  individual  cases, 
but  after  all  the  chief  security  for  regular  attendance  at  work 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  absence  entails  loss  of  wages.  With 
the  great  mass  of  the  workers  these  motives  are  quite  sufficient 
to  insure  regularity.  That  no  more  stringent  measures  are 
adopted  in  the  few  cases  in  which  these  prove  unavailing  is  to 
be  explained,  as  one  of  the  superintendents  asserts,  by  the  fact 
that  the  places  of  the  girls  could  not  well  be  filled.  "  Other- 
wise," he  added,  "  we  might  attempt  to  regulate  the  matter, 
since  at  times  we  are  certainly  inconvenienced." 

.  .  .  None  of  the  experienced  operators  earn  less  than  $i 
a  day,  and  there  are  at  least  twenty  who  appear  in  the  records 
as  averaging  over  $1.50  per  day  throughout  the  year.  These 
twenty  earn  regularly,  therefore,  from  $9  to  $10  a  week.  Prob- 
ably no  woman  averages  more  than  that  in  this  line  of  work, 
though  for  a  short  time  some  of  them  may  earn  more. 

How  long  does  a  girl  need  to  learn  machine  operating  on 
overalls  ?  There  have  been  several  cases  where  girls  were  earn- 
ing a  dollar  a  day  by  the  end  of  the  second  month.  Some  super- 
intendents claim  that  any  bright  girl  should  be  able  to  do  that, 
but  among  the  women  themselves  the  impression  prevails  that 
it  is  no  disgrace  to  spend  three  or  even  four  months  before 
attaining  that  degree  of  speed.  From  the  beginning  the  women 
are  paid  at  piece  rates  and  therefore  begin  to  earn  something  at 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  377 

once.  The  work  can  be  learned  only  in  the  factories,  where  a 
teacher  is  provided.  Oae  firm  estimates  that  the  actual  cost  of 
teaching  each  new  worker  is  twenty-five  dollars.  This  amount 
is  apparently  obtained  by  making  allowance  for  the  profit  that 
would  accrue  to  the  establishment  if  the  machine  were  run  by 
an  experienced  hand. 

...  In  Newburg  the  greater  part  of  the  women  belong  to 
families  that  have  resided  in  Newburg  for  a  number  of  years. 
Many  of  them  were  born  there.  There  are,  however,  two  other 
classes.  The  first  and  smaller  one  consists  of  girls  who  have 
come  to  Newburg  with  their  parents,  or  more  frequently  with 
the  mother  alone,  in  order  to  enter  the  factories.  The  second 
class  is  composed  of  girls  who  have  come  to  the  city  alone  and 
who  board  usually  in  some  private  family.  Except  in  connection 
with  the  latter  class,  which  comprises  not  more  than  one  fourth 
of  the  girls,  one  is  almost  as  strongly  impressed  with  the  essen- 
tial economic  unity  of  the  family  as  was  the  case  among  the  very 
different  classes  of  women  in  New  York.  What  is  earned  by 
these  women  is  in  general  simply  a  part  of  the  family  income, 
and  not  in  any  sense  a  fund  for  separate  maintenance.  The 
character  of  the  home,  the  amount  spent  on  clothing,  and  the 
social  activities  of  the  women  are  determined  by  the  general 
economic  status  of  the  families  rather  than  by  the  ability  of  the 
women  themselves.  But  when  we  come  to  consider  the  extent 
to  which  the  family  status  is  here  affected  by  the  employment 
of  the  daughter  we  meet  with  quite  a  different  situation.  The 
women  are  in  many  cases  the  chief  support  of  the  family.  .We 
find  here  to  a  certain  extent  a  repetition  of  the  experiences  of 
some  of  the  New  England  towns.  The  opportunities  for  men 
to  work  have  not  increased  as  rapidly  as  have  those  for  women. 
The  latter  were  never  better  than  they  are  to-day.  In  the  case 
of  the  former,  however,  it  is  not  only  true  that  the  industries 
in  Newburg  in  which  men  are  employed  have  not  expanded, 
but  in  some  instances  works  have  actually  been  abandoned,  as 
has  happened  to  certain  foundries  and  shops  for  the  manufacture 
of  steam  engines.  In  some  instances  men  who  were  old  and 
could  not  readily  find  similar  work  elsewhere  have  undoubtedly 


378         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

been  led  to  remain  in  Newburg  on  account  of  the  excellent 
factory  positions  held  by  their  daughters.  More  frequently, 
perhaps,  it  is  a  widowed  mother  who  remains  with  her  daughters, 
while  her  sons  find  work  elsewhere.  There  are  still,  of  course, 
many  men  industrially  employed  in  the  city,  and  in  these  cases 
the  wages  of  the  daughters  or  sisters  form  a  less  important 
part  of  the  family  income.  While  in  few  instances,  perhaps, 
may  the  employment  of  the  women  of  the  household  be  regarded 
as  directly  a  reason  for  less  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  men, 
indirectly,  by  interposing  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  free  move- 
ment elsewhere  on  the  part  of  the  family,  it  undoubtedly  has 
had  that  effect. 

There  are  no  "factory  boarding  houses"  maintained  in  the 
city.  The  girls  who  are  without  families  board  in  private 
homes.  Seldom  more  than  two  or  three  board  in  one  place. 
One  result  of  this  practice  is  that  they  blend  quite  readily  with 
the  people  of  the  city  and  do  not  form  a  distinct  class  by  them- 
selves. From  three  to  four  dollars  a  week  is  the  usual  charge 
for  board  and  lodging. 

The  energy  of  the  young  women  is  by  no  means  exhausted 
by  their  industrial  activity.  Opportunities  for  social  intercourse 
come  in  connection  with  their  church  work  and  with  their  trade 
unions,  as  well  as  in  the  varied  life  of  a  small  city.  A  number 
of  the  girls  take  music  lessons  and  find  time  and  interest  to 
practice  with  more  or  less  regularity.  During  the  winter  of 
1900  and  1901  forty  of  the  girls  were  members  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  an  organization  that  here  does 
not  draw  strict  denominational  lines  but  admits  Catholics  as 
well  as  Protestants.  The  general  fee  for  membership  is  one 
dollar.  There  are  for  the  members  both  free  classes  and  pay 
classes.  The  factory  girls  are  quite  as  ready  to  join  the  latter 
as  the  former.  The  gymnasium  and  the  cooking  classes  have 
proved  especially  popular  with  them,  though  sometimes  dress- 
making is  taken  up. 

Practically  all  of  the  women  carry  life  insurance.  In  the  case 
of  those  with  no  near  relatives  this  usually  amounts  to  about 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  379 

$200,  which  is  regarded  as  enough  for  burial  expenses  and 
miscellaneous  items.  A  larger  proportion  of  them  are  insured 
for  $500,  and  while  I  can  present  no  definite  records  in  support 
of  the  statement,  on  the  strength  of  information  from  various 
reliable  sources  I  feel  justified  in  saying  that  there  are  probably 
as  many  as  a  hundred  women  in  one  factory  employing  five  or 
six  hundred  women  who  are  carrying  insurance  to  the  amount 
of  $1000,  usually  for  the  benefit  of  the  mother. 

Few  of  the  women  save  money.  Those  who  are  independent 
of  relatives  pay  three  or  four  dollars  a  week  for  board,  main- 
tain their  insurance,  meet  a  few  incidental  expenses,  and  spend 
the  rest  on  clothes.  A  few  belong  to  benefit  societies,  such  as 
the  Ladies'  Branch  of  the  Foresters,  which  insures  its  mem- 
bers a  weekly  payment  of  five  dollars  in  case  of  sickness.  A 
small  number,  however,  have  bank  accounts.  .  .  . 

Certain  broad  general  contrasts  appear  between  the  women 
working  on  coats,  pants,  and  vests  in  New  York  City  1  and  the 
women  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  overalls  and  working- 
men's  suits.  The  former  class  is  composed  chiefly  of  Italian 
immigrants,  with  an  admixture  of  Jewish  and  German  women ; 
the  latter  is  made  up  almost  exclusively  of  American-born 
women  of  Irish,  American,  or  sometimes  German  parentage. 
The  majority  of  the  former  class  do  not  speak  English ;  nearly 
all  of  the  latter  have  received  a  grammar-school  education.  The 
former  are  generally  married  women,  engaged  in  finishing  gar- 
ments by  hand  at  home;  the  latter  are  single  women,  operating 
machines  in  factories.  The  wages  of  the  former  class  are  small 
and  irregular  ;  those  of  the  latter  are  relatively  high  and  stable. 
Although  in  both  cases  the  wages  ordinarily  form  a  part  of  the 
family  income,  the  share  contributed  by  the  Italians  is  supple- 
mentary, while  the  overalls  workers  are  in  many  instances  the 
main  support  of  the  family.  A  considerable  number  of  this 
class  of  employees  are  independent,  self-supporting  women. 
These  protect  themselves  by  life  insurance  and  occasionally  by 
membership  in  benefit  societies  or  by  deposits  in  the  bank. 

1  See  Chapter  XIV  on  the  sweating  system.  —  ED. 


380         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

II.  TRADE  UNIONS 

The  United  Garment  Workers  of  America  is  an  international 
union  which  now  includes  in  its  membership  almost  all  the 
organized  men  and  women  in  the  United  States  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  men's  ready-made  clothing,  together  with  a 
number  in  Canada.  ...  In  its  establishment  the  women  workers 
bore  no  part  either  directly  or  indirectly,  and  the  first  officers 
chosen  were  all  men.  Before  the  second  convention,  which  was 
called  late  in  1891,  twenty-four  charters  had  been  granted.  Of 
these  three  were  taken  out  by  women's  unions.  One  of  these 
unions  never  paid  any  dues  and  was  shortly  dropped  from  the 
records;  another  led  a  precarious  and  nervous  existence  for 
some  years  and  at  last  went  to  pieces ;  the  third,  formed 
through  the  influence  of  the  employer,  who  desired  the  label, 
has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

In  April,  1902,  the  United  Garment  Workers  was  composed 
of  179  local  bodies,  of  which  83  admitted  men  only,  while  96 
were  made  up  either  exclusively  of  women  or  of  both  men  and 
women.  In  the  unions  of  the  last  kind  the  women  were  usually 
in  a  large  majority.  The  total  membership  was  about  25,000, 
of  which  number  approximately  8000  were  women.  It  has 
been  the  general  policy  of  the  United  Garment  Workers  to 
organize  men  and  women  in  separate  unions.  The  existence  of 
"mixed"  bodies  has  come  about  in  many  cases  through  the 
creation  of  unions  among  the  employees  of  single  factories.  In 
the  overalls  trade,  for  example,  the  mass  of  the  employees  are 
women  operators,  but  a  half  dozen  or  more  men  are  usually 
employed  in  each  factory  as  cutters.  The  unions  in  these 
factories  would  naturally  include  the  men,  and  it  is  frequently 
in  this  way  that  the  mixed  unions  have  arisen.  In  this  respect 
the  garment  workers  differ  from  the  cigar  and  cigarette  makers, 
among  whom  the  women  are  usually  admitted  to  the  men's 
unions.  These  two  industries,  cigar  making  and  the  manufac- 
ture of  clothing,  are  practically  the  only  ones  in  this  country 
in  which  women  have  been  organized  in  large  numbers.  The 
United  Garment  Workers  claims  both  a  larger  number  and  a 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  381 

greater  proportion  of  women  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  other 
national  union. 

.  .  .  While  the  leaders  of  the  union  were  beginning  to  ques- 
tion the  efficacy  of  the  strike  as  a  universal  panacea  for  the 
ills  of  the  clothing  trade,  the  increase  in  the  demand  for  the 
union  label,  which  prior  to  1896  had  been  in  an  experimental 
stage,  turned  their  hopes  in  another  direction.  The  union  has 
found  in  the  label  a  powerful  lever.  It  is  to-day  the  most 
important  factor  in  determining  the  policy  of  the  United  Gar- 
ment Workers,  and  as  it  is  largely  owing  to  the  label  that  so 
many  women's  unions  have  been  established  in  this  country, 
we  may  consider  somewhat  fully  the  conditions  which  limit 
its  use. 

The  labels  of  the  United  Garment  Workers  are  sold  to  any 
manufacturer  of  ready-made  clothing  who  is  willing  to  enter 
into  an  agreement  to  employ  in  the  manufacture  of  garments 
only  members  of  the  union,  to  maintain  proper  sanitary  condi- 
tions in  his  shop,  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  state 
laws  relating  to  workshops,  to  regulate  hours  and  wages  in 
accordance  with  the  union  standards  that  are  maintained  in  the 
locality  or  that  may  be  agreed  upon  with  the  employees,  and  to 
refer  to  the  general  offices  of  the  United  Garment  Workers  for 
mediation  all  difficulties  arising  between  employer  and  employees 
which  they  themselves  are  unable  to  settle.  In  the  overalls 
trade  no  labels  are  granted  except  to  manufacturers  who  have 
all  the  work  done  upon  their  own  premises  without  the  inter- 
vention of  a  contractor.  All  garments  must  bear  the  label. 
For  this  branch  of  the  clothing  trade  a  general  minimum  price 
list  for  the  whole  country  has  been  drawn  up,  but  there  are 
numerous  complaints  that  the  rate  is  not  uniformly  enforced. 
There  is  one  other  point  of  importance  to  be  noticed.  Within 
the  last  year  the  Garment  Workers  have  issued  a  declaration 
of  war  upon  the  contract  system.  It  is  recognized  that  it  will 
be  extremely  difficult  to  restrict  the  label  to  employers  who 
give  out  no  work  to  be  done  off  the  premises,  but  it  is  the  aim 
of  the  union  to  crush  out  the  contract  system  so  far  as  possible. 
As  a  first  step  the  requirement  that  all  goods  shall  be  made  up 


382         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

in  the  factory  or  shop  of  the  manufacturer  has  been  made  a 
further  condition  of  granting  the  label  to  applicants  in  New 
York  City.  Manufacturers  already  possessing  the  right  to  use 
the  label  are  given  six  months'  time  in  which  to  comply  with 
the  new  provisions.  The  gradual  extension  of  this  new  condi- 
tion to  all  other  cities  is  contemplated,  and  those  cities  will  be 
considered  first  in  which  the  worst  abuses  are  found. 

It  is  evident  that  if  the  requirements  were  strictly  and 
fairly  enforced  by  the  union  the  label  would  guarantee  to  the 
purchaser  of  clothing  to  which  it  was  attached  that  the  goods 
were  manufactured  by  fairly  paid  laborers  under  sanitary  con- 
ditions. It  is  the  aim  and  desire  of  the  union  that  the  label 
shall  stand  also  for  good  quality  and  good  workmanship,  good 
relatively  to  the  class  of  clothing  to  which  the  article  in  ques- 
tion belongs.  Although  it  is  doubtless  true  that  in  earlier  days 
the  presence  of  the  union  label  bore  almost  no  significance,  the 
numerous  precautions  and  safeguards  that  the  union  is  now 
throwing  about  it  should  tend  to  arouse  both  respect  for  it  and 
confidence  in  it,  not  only  among  those  in  sympathy  with  the 
union  movement  but  on  the  part  of  the  general  purchasing 
public  as  well. 

The  agreement  entered  into  between  the  unions  and  the 
employers  is  in  some  respects  a  flexible  one  and  varies  some- 
what in  different  sections  of  the  country.  This  policy  has  had 
three  results.  It  has  given  color  to  the  claim  that  the  union 
label  does  not  stand  for  a  definite  reliable  minimum  of  pro- 
tection to  the  laborer  ;  it  has  caused  dissatisfaction  among 
employers  in  some  localities,  who  claim  that  they  would  be  will- 
ing to  enter  into  a  uniform  agreement  to  be  enforced  equally 
against  their  rivals,  but  maintain  that  under  the  present  system 
they  are  discriminated  against  ;  and,  finally,  it  has  resulted  in 
the  maintenance  of  some  union  shops  in  localities  in  which  the 
rigid  enforcement  of  all  the  requirements  would  have  made 
them  impossible.  Because  the  label  does  not  always  stand  for 
definite  conditions,  because  many  of  the  well-to-do  classes  object 
to  the  requirement  that  only  union  labor  shall  be  employed, 
and  because  many  others  have  given  no  thought  to  the 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  383 

matter,  the  demand  for  clothing  bearing  the  label  is  restricted 
almost  exclusively  to  the  laboring  classes.  For  this  reason  the 
label  is  found  chiefly  on  garments  intended  for  their  use.  In 
August,  1901,  there  were  125  manufacturers  of  labeled  clothing 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  12,000  garment  workers, 
of  whom  more  than  one  half  were  women,  were  working  under 
the  label  agreement.  During  the  preceding  year,  from  August, 
1900,  to  August,  1901,  fourteen  and  a  half  million  labels  had 
been  sent  out.1  A  paid  label  secretary  is  now  employed.  It 
is  the  purpose  of  the  General  Executive  Board  to  devote  as 
much  time  and  money  as  possible  to  extending  the  use  of  the 
label  and  the  demand  for  it. 

The  formal  organization  of  the  United  Garment  Workers  is 
democratic.  The  initiative  and  referendum  have  been  preserved, 
and  appeals  are  frequently  made  to  the  whole  body  of  members, 
but,  as  is  usually  the  case  under  such  provisions,  only  a  small 
vote  is  cast,  rarely  representing  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent 
of  the  members.  The  guiding  power  is  exerted  by  a  small  group 
of  men  who  from  the  beginning  have  held  responsible  offices 
in  the  union  and  who  represent  perhaps  the  most  conservative 
influence  in  the  body. 

Such  are  the  characteristic  principles  of  the  United  Garment 
Workers,  and  I  think  it  but  fair  to  say  that  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  general  policy  of  the  union  the  women  have  had 
little  if  any  influence.  In  the  conventions  they  rarely  speak 
on  questions  of  broad  interest,  or  upon  the  action  to  be  taken 
in  particular  cases  except  those  in  which  they  are  immediately 
concerned.  They  then  occupy  somewhat  the  position  of  expert 
witnesses.  Their  testimony  is  given  only  upon  those  points  on 
which  they  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  speak,  and  when  it  is  given 

it  is  directly  to  the  point.  Miss describes  the  conditions 

in  the-  —factory,  and  the  convention  at  once  dispatches  a 
telegram  to  the  firm  threatening  to  withdraw  the  label  unless 
the  demands  of  the  employees  are  immediately  conceded.  The 
Syracuse  women  make  a  united  appeal  for  the  aid  of  the 

1  Report  of  the  General  Secretary,  Tenth  Annual  Convention,  The  Garment 
Worker,  Vol.  V,  No.  12,  p.  10. 


384         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

international  body  in  the  establishment  of  a  nine-hour  day  in 
the  tailoring  trade,  and  the  women  from  the  overalls  factories 
all  press  for  the  establishment  of  a  minimum  price  list  for  the 
making  of  overalls.  In  most  cases  the  women  delegates  have 
been  sent  for  the  express  purpose  of  presenting  some  such 
request.  These  appeals  are  usually  fully  discussed  in  the  com- 
mittee meetings,  where  some  of  the  women  manifest  consider- 
able ability.  In  general,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  while  the 
routine  business  remains  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  men, 
and  while  the  men  are  responsible  also  for  the  determination  of 
the  general  policy  of  the  union  and  its  action  in  the  greater 
number  of  specific  cases,  the  women  perform  valuable  supple- 
mentary work.  I  might  add  that  I  am  given  to  understand 
that  the  presence  of  the  women  has  contributed  not  a  little  to 
the  orderly  character  of  the  conventions  and  to  the  rapid  dis- 
patch of  business. 

So  far  as  financial  contributions  to  the  International  Union 
and  the  benefits  received  from  it  are  concerned  men  and 
women  stand  nominally  on  precisely  the  same  footing.  In 
practice,  however,  there  is  a  slight  advantage  in  favor  of  the 
latter,  since  financial  assistance  in  strikes  is  granted  to  them 
somewhat  more  readily.  The  chief  income  of  the  union  is 
obtained  from  a  per  capita  tax,  which  has  increased  by  varying 
increments  from  three  cents  a  month  in  1891  to  the  present 
monthly  tax  of  twelve  cents.  In  addition  to  this  the  General 
Executive  Board  is  permitted  to  levy  a  special  strike  assessment 
of  five  cents  a  week  when  it  is  considered  necessary,  and  it  has 
assumed  the  right  to  levy  special  assessments  for  other  pur- 
poses. From  August,  1900,  to  August,  1901,  but  six  such 
special  assessments  were  levied,  amounting  in  all  to  thirty 
cents  per  person.1  Even  this  was  an  unusually  heavy  burden. 
Finally,  twenty-five  cents  of  each  initiation  fee  also  passes  to 
the  general  body.  The  total  receipts  during  the  year  were 
$3 5>85 3 -79-  The  chief  expenses  aside  from  the  cost  of  labels, 
which  is  usually  fully  covered  by  the  proceeds  of  their  sale,  are 

1  For  these  figures  and  those  which  follow  see  Report  of  the  General  Secretary, 
Tenth  Annual  Convention,  The  Garment  Worker,  Vol.  V,  No.  12,  pp.  7  and  8. 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  385 

those  involved  in  organizing  unions,  in  paying  the  salaries  of 
the  president,  secretary,  and  clerks,  and  in  advertising  the  label. 
Strike  benefits  paid  during  the  year  amounted  to  only  $3251. 
It  is  an  interesting  point  that  of  this  sum  $2725  went  to  women 
overalls  workers  engaged  in  a  strike  in  Kansas  City.  Only  when 
a  strike  has  been  indorsed  by  the  General  Executive  Board  do 
members  have  the  right  to  call  upon  the  United  Garment 
Workers  for  aid.  Then,  if  the  funds  permit,  they  have  the 
right  to  a  weekly  payment  of  five  dollars  apiece.  In  addition 
to  this,  or  when  it  is  impossible  to  pay  this,  the  General  Execu- 
tive Board  may  authorize  the  striking  local  union  to  send  appeals 
for  assistance  to  other  local  bodies.  While  the  rights  of  all  are 
equal,  it  is  claimed  that  there  is  rather  more  readiness  on  the 
part  both  of  the  General  Executive  Board  and  of  the  local 
unions  to  extend  aid  to  women  than  to  men.  This  benefit  is 
paid  until  the  General  Executive  Board  declares  the  strike  at 
an  end  or  until  the  funds  are  exhausted. 

Ever  since  the  establishment  of  the  union  there  has  been  a 
constant  agitation  in  favor  of  the  introduction  of  higher  dues 
and  of  sickness  and  death  benefit  provisions.  To  the  higher 
dues  the  women  have  always  been  opposed,  and  such  increase 
as  has  been  made  has  been  in  the  face  of  their  opposition.  The 
plan  for  the  establishment  by  the  International  Union  of  a  sick- 
ness and  death  benefit  fund  has  met  with  opposition,  especially 
from  the  cutters.  It  has  at  length  been  entirely  abandoned  in 
favor  of  the  maintenance  of  such  provisions  by  the  local  unions. 

Let  us  pass  now  to  a  study  of  the  local  unions  composed 

either  wholly  or  in  part  of  women.    [The  statistical  table  shows 

that  from  1891  to  1900  82  women's  locals  had  been  organized, 

of  which  in  1900  33  had  disbanded  and  49  were  in  existence. 

-ED.] 

First.  It  is  shown  that  the  unions  in  which  both  men  and 
women  are  found  in  this  industry  are  composed  so  largely  of 
women  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  distinguish  between  them 
and  the  unions  composed  exclusively  of  women. 

Second.  Up  to  April,  1900,  women  had  conducted  or  partici- 
pated in  the  affairs  of  82  unions. 


386         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Third.  This  figure  is  somewhat  deceptive,  since  12  of  the 
unions  practically  never  existed  at  all ;  that  is,  a  charter  was 
taken  out  by  some  enthusiastic  unionist,  in  which  proceeding 
the  women  may  possibly  have  had  no  share  whatever,  and  the 
prospective  organization  failed  to  come  to  life,  no  dues  were 
paid,  and  no  record  of  members  was  obtained. 

Fourth.  Weak  unions  formed  among  women  usually  fall  apart. 
in  less  than  two  years,  some  not  even  living  through  the  year. 
Of  those  that  had  maintained  themselves  more  than  two  years 
all  but  two  still  survived  in  1900. 

When  we  consider  the  circumstances  under  which  the  unions 
that  have  fallen  apart  were  formed  we  are  usually  able  to  dis- 
cover at  once  the  reasons  why  they  were  unable  to  maintain 
themselves.  Such  an  investigation  throws  considerable  light 
upon  the  feasibility  of  attempting  to  establish  women's  unions 
where  the  conditions  are  unfavorable.  Each  of  thirty-three  such 
unions  was  formed  originally  in  one  of  three  ways.  Sometimes 
an  employer  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing  wanted 
the  union  label,  and  since  in  order  to  obtain  it  it  was  neces- 
sary to  employ  only  union  hands,  he  ordered  the  women  to  form 
a  union.  Such  was  the  case  in  at  least  ten  of  these  unions. 
These  included  six  unions  formed  in  small  towns  in  Maine  where 
the  women  worked  for  Boston  firms  desiring  the  label.  These 
women  were  far  removed  from  the  mass  of  organized  labor,  had 
little  if  any  communication  with  the  general  body  except  by 
letter,  and  were  not  only  indifferent  to  the  formation  of  the 
union  but  were  in  some  cases  actually  opposed  to  it,  as  it  was 
regarded  as  nothing  but  an  additional  drain  upon  their  low 
wages.  Two  of  these  label  unions  were  formed  in  Columbus, 
Georgia,  each  of  which  consisted  of  the  employees  of  a  single 
shop.  Of  the  other  two  cases  one  was  that  of  a  union  in  Scran- 
ton,  Pennsylvania,  in  which  the  girls  took  no  interest  until  they 
got  into  a  disagreement  with  the  General  Executive  Board ; 
and  the  other  was  formed  in  Chicago  in  a  shop  from  which  the 
label  was  withdrawn  owing  to  bad  sanitary  conditions.  In  all  of 
these  cases  the  label  was  withdrawn  after  a  short  time,  usually 
either  because  the  employer  failed  to  find  it  profitable  or 


WOMEN   IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  387 

because  he  failed  to  comply  with  the  requisite  conditions. 
Upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  label  the  unions  immediately  went 
to  pieces.  In  no  instance  were  there  surrounding  circumstances 
of  such  a  character  as  to  arouse  the  interest  or  enthusiasm  of 
the  members.  The  membership  was  small,  rarely  exceeding 
twenty  in  a  union. 

In  other  cases  unions  were  established  through  the  influence 
of  some  man  or  of  a  small  number  of  men.  This  group  of  unions 
is  much  larger  than  the  preceding  one  and  includes  eighteen 
of  the  thirty-three  unions.  The  men  were  in  some  instances 
tailors  who  desired  the  women  in  the  trade  to  be  organized 
that  they  might  give  aid  in  enforcing  concessions  from  an 
unwilling  employer;  sometimes  they  were  zealous  unionists 
from  other  trades.  In  this  group  were  several  of  the  unions 
previously  noted  as  having  had  practically  no  existence.  Typ- 
ical of  this  class  was  Local  Union  137.  This  was  composed  of 
Polish  tailoresses  who,  having  been  called  together  and  addressed 
by  some  man,  immediately  voted  to  form  a  union  but  never 
held  another  meeting.  In  other  cases  the  unions  were  not  only 
formed  but  officered  by  men,  and  with  two  possible  exceptions 
all  these  unions  dragged  along  without  voluntary  cooperation 
on  the  part  of  the  women.  There  was  no  growth  from  within. 
Their  suspension  was  speedily  brought  about  through  the  non- 
payment of  dues.  There  were  two  cases,  however,  to  which 
this  general  description  does  not  apply.  Local  Union  33,  of 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  called  the  Ladies'  Protective  Association, 
and  composed  largely  of  Germans,  showed  marked  independ- 
ence. In  the  strike  of  1896  these  women  encouraged  the  men 
to  remain  out  and  did  everything  in  their  power  to  prevent 
them  from  yielding.  Even  when  the  latter  gave  up  the  contest 
the  women  refused  for  some  time  to  go  back  to  work.  They 
were  finally  forced  to  make  concessions,  however,  and  in  the 
general  disaster  of  that  year  the  union  went  to  pieces.  The 
other  independent  union  was  also  in  Baltimore.  Local  Union 
98  was  formed  of  Lithuanian  women,  and  was  dissolved  under 
the  same  circumstances  as  No.  33.  This  union  had  combined 
with  its  industrial  functions  a  certain  semireligious,  semisocial 


388         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

character,  which  fact  had  undoubtedly  contributed  to  its  strength. 
The  meetings  were  held  in  a  church  in  the  presence  of  the 
priest,  but  partook  largely  of  the  nature  of  social  gatherings. 

Of  the  unions  that  have  disappeared  only  one  group  remains 
to  be  noticed,  and  that  the  smallest  and  most  interesting  class. 
It  consists  of  the  unions  formed  not  through  the  efforts  of  the 
employer  or  of  the  men  but  at  least  in  part  by  the  spontaneous 
movement  of  the  women  themselves.  There  were  but  five  of 
these  unions.  First  of  them  comes  the  charter  union,  Local 
Union  16.  It  is  with  the  history  of  this  union,  and  often  with 
this  alone,  that  the  student  of  women's  unions  is  most  familiar, 
if  his  attention  has  been  confined  to  New  York  City;  yet  it 
has  perhaps  the  least  typical  history  of  any  of  the  eighty-two 
unions.  Local  Union  90,  of  Brooklyn,  is  the  only  other  union 
whose  experiences  have  been  at  all  similar.  Local  Union  16 
was  composed  largely  of  Jewish  girls,  a  few  of  whom  were 
bright,  attractive  speakers,  interested  in  the  establishment  of 
their  union  and  eager  to  extend  their  influence  even  beyond 
their  own  group.  But  it  has  been  the  experience  of  trade 
organizers,  not  only  here  but  elsewhere,  that  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  arouse  in  young  Jewish  girls  any  permanent  interest 
in  their  work.  It  is  not  merely  that  they  leave  it  upon  marry- 
ing, —  in  general  the  American  girls  do  the  same,  —  but  the 
possibility  of  marriage  seems  to  interfere  with  any  serious  or 
earnest  interest  in  work,  while  the  American  girls  so  long  as 
they  remain  at  work  are  interested  and  ambitious.  Possibly 
owing  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  situation  the  East  Side 
Jewish  tailor  refuses  to  regard  the  industrial  activity  of  thp 
Jewish  girls  as  worthy  of  serious  attention,  and  thinks  it  hope- 
less to  expect  the  women  employees  to  be  unionists.  As  a 
result  we  have  from  Local  Union  16  what  is,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  the  only  complaint  issued  by  women  in  the  garment 
trade  of  failure  on  the  part  of  the  men  to  give  all  due  assistance. 

.  .  .  With  reference  to  the  influences  instrumental  in  the 
formation  of  the  49  unions  in  existence  in  1900  we  notice  a 
marked  contrast  between  this  class  and  the  preceding  one. 
While  in  the  latter  class  18  unions  owed  their  establishment 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  389 

to  the  personal  exertions  of  the  union  men,  in  the  present  class 
only  4  trace  their  origin  exclusively  to  that  influence,  although 
in  many  instances  the  men  undoubtedly  gave  some  assistance. 
As  against  10  of  the  extinct  unions  organized  through  the 
label,  37  of  the  existing  unions  were  so  organized,  —  a  very 
large  percentage  of  the  total  number.  Under  the  general 
heading  of  unions  formed  through  the  label  I  would  suggest 
three  subclasses,  the  first  to  include  all  unions  where  the  em- 
ployees are  entirely  indifferent  or  are  opposed  to  organization ; 
the  second  to  consist  of  those  bodies  the  members  of  which  are 
now  active  unionists ;  and  the  third  to  include  the  remaining 
cases,  in  which  the  relations  between  employer  and  employee 
are  influenced  by  special  and  differing  conditions.  In  the  class 
characterized  by  perfect  passivity  on  the  part  of  the  employees 
we  must  place  at  least  1 1  unions.  Any  one  of  these  would  go 
to  pieces  at  once  if  the  label  were  withdrawn  ;  the  existence 
of  the  organization  at  present  confers  no  benefits  upon  its 
members.  Typical  cases  under  this  head  are  unions  formed 
in  two  of  the  southern  factories  among  the  girls  working  in 
cotton  mills.  In  as  many  as  23  cases,  however,  we  find  that 
unions  formed  under  the  influence  of  the  label  are  active  and 
progressive.  In  this  number  are  included  most  of  the  large 
women's  unions  regarded  by  the  entire  body  of  garment 
workers  as  successful.  Of  the  23,  1 1  are  composed  of  employees 
in  large  overalls  factories,  while  4  of  the  others  are  located  in 
Syracuse,  a  city  which  has  the  distinction,  from  the  trade- 
union  point  of  view,  of  being  better  organized  than  any  other 
city  in  the  country.  Of  the  third  class  there  are  3  unions,  one 
in  a  cooperative  factory  in  Alabama  the  stock  for  which  was 
subscribed  by  union  men,  a  second  in  Ontario  under  a  philan- 
thropic employer  who  is  trying  to  create  a  model  factory,  and 
a  third  in  Dover,  New  Jersey,  where  the  employer  is  himself  a 
union  man. 

In  addition  to  the  large  group  of  unions  formed  under  the 
label  and  the  small  group  previously  referred  to  as  organized 
by  union  men,  there  is  among  existing  unions  a  group  of 
seven  in  the  establishment  of  which  the  women  have  taken 


390        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  initiative.  Among  these  the  organization  at  Streator, 
Illinois,  is  perhaps  the  most  prominent.  It  existed  for  some 
time  as  a  social  club  before  assuming  the  form  of  a  trade 
union. 

From  the  study  of  these  individual  cases  we  are  justified  in 
drawing  certain  general  conclusions  : 

1.  That  while  nine  or  ten  years  ago,  in  the  early  days  of  the 
United  Garment  Workers,  the  great  part  in  the  organization 
of  women's  unions  was  performed  by  men  and  the  union,  if 
maintained,  was  kept  up  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  the  men, 
this  is  no  longer  the  case. 

2.  That  at  the  present  time  the  most  powerful  influence  for 
the  formation  of  unions  among  women  is  the  union  label. 

3.  That  although  the  union  label  is  unable  of  itself  to  guar- 
antee the  continued   existence  of  an  efficient  union,  yet  the 
existence  of  such  a  union  is  essential  to  the  protection  of  the 
label. 

4.  That  the  support  and   sympathy  which  come  from  the 
presence  of  a  large  body  of  unionists  in  the  community  are  of 
great  importance. 

5.  That  although  women  have  as  yet  rarely  established  per- 
manent local  unions,  they  can  and  do  successfully  maintain 
them  under  favorable  circumstances. 

.  .  .  What  are  the  functions  actually  performed  by  these 
women's  unions?  Have  they  after  all  anything  more  than  the 
mere  form  of  an  organization,  with  a  membership  created  by  an 
artificial  stimulus  and  incapable  of  performing  any  real  service? 
Of  some  of  them,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  this  is  a  fair 
description,  but  it  is  not  true  of  all.  It  proved  to  be  practically 
impossible  to  make  a  detailed  study  of  the  economic,  educational, 
and  social  functions  of  the  ninety-six  unions  existing  in  1902. 
Therefore,  in  order  to  get  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the  actual 
results  of  the  organization  of  women  workers,  I  concentrated 
my  attention  upon  eight  of  the  oldest  unions,  with  a  total 
membership  of  about  two  thousand  women  and  two  hundred 
men.  None  of  these  unions  is  less  than  five  years  old,  and  one 
has  been  in  existence  twice  that  length  of  time.  The  conditions 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  391 

found  to  prevail  in  these  organizations  should  then  be  fairly 
typical  for  the  stronger  unions. 

The  members  of  these  organizations  are  practically  all  girls 
born  in  America,  frequently  of  Irish  or  German  parentage  but 
in  perhaps  the  majority  of  cases  with  American  parents.  There 
is  a  slight  sprinkling  of  Jewish  and  Polish  women,  constituting 
probably  not  more  than  one  per  cent  of  the  total  number. 
Nearly  all  the  girls  have  had  a  common-school  education.  In 
all  of  the  eight  unions  the  women  are  employed  on  light 
cotton  coats,  pants,  or  vests,  or  on  overalls.  In  rare  cases 
some  work  is  performed  on  workingmen's  woolen  suits  not 
regularly  tailored.  In  each  case  all  the  members  of  the  union 
work  in  a  single  shop  or  factory  for  one  employer  who  uses  the 
label  on  his  goods.  What  are  the  relations  between  this  em- 
ployer and  his  employees  ?  Does  the  union  exist  chiefly  in  his 
interest,  in  order  to  secure  to  him  the  right  to  use  the  label  ? 
Is  it  entirely  subservient  to  his  purposes  ? 

In  the  first  place,  these  unions  are  not  directly  subsidized  by 
the  employer.  In  five  of  the  unions  he  has  never  given  financial 
aid  to  the  organization.  To  one  union  the  firm  employing  the 
members  offered  to  give  one  hundred  dollars  to  help  establish  a 
sick-benefit  fund.  In  the  case  of  another  union  the  traveling 
expenses  of  a  delegate  to  the  national  convention  were  paid  by 
the  firm  in  one  instance.  In  a  third  case  donations  have  been 
made  once  or  twice  when  especially  requested.  All  of  these 
were  isolated  and  special  acts  of  kindness  on  the  part  of  friendly 
employers.  The  financial  burdens  of  the  unions  were  borne  by 
the  members. 

What  are  the  relations  between  the  employer  and  the  union 
when  questions  of  wages  are  in  dispute?  Practically  all  the 
women  are  paid  at  piece  rates.  In  each  of  these  factories  the 
rates  are  fixed  by  an  annual  agreement  between  the  employer 
and  a  committee  appointed  by  the  union  representing  the  dif- 
ferent departments  of  the  shop.  There  is  a  union  standard  of 
piece  rates  which  is  supposed  to  serve  as  a  minimum  in  all  union 
factories.  Two  of  the  factories  have  schedules  corresponding 
very  nearly  to  the  union  standard,  one  pays  higher  rates  on 


392         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

some  articles  and  lower  on  others,  and  the  remaining  five 
pay  apparently  somewhat  higher  prices.  Does  the  existence  of 
the  union  have  any  measurable  effect  upon  the  scale  of  prices  ? 
In  one  factory  the  connection  has  been  clear.  The  right  to  use 
the  label  was  refused  until  the  wages  were  raised  to  the  stand- 
ard rates,  and  they  have  not  since  been  reduced.  In  a  second 
factory  difficulty  in  adjusting  the  rate  of  wages  has  occurred 
on  four  or  five  occasions ;  the  general  officers  of  the  union 
have  been  called  in  and  a  compromise  has  been  reached.  In 
the  remaining  six  cases  no  appeal  for  the  assistance  of  the 
general  officers  has  been  made,  but  the  comparison  of  prices 
and  privileges,  which  connection  with  the  union  has  made  pos- 
sible, has  placed  the  employees  in  a  position  where  they  were 
better  able  to  decide  what  demands  they  might  properly  make 
and  insist  upon.  Local  abuses  in  the  matter  of  fines,  local 
exactions,  and  local  low  prices  are  less  easily  maintained  when 
employees  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  conditions  prevail- 
ing elsewhere. 

In  some  cases,  however,  disagreements  cannot  be  amicably 
settled.  Frequent  strikes  are  much  to  be  deplored,  but  a  union 
which  is  never  ready  to  strike  to  enforce  its  demands  has  little 
strength.  If  these  label  unions  are,  as  is  sometimes  claimed, 
only  tools  in  the  hands  of  their  employers,  we  shall  certainly 
never  find  them  resorting  to  such  measures.  Of  these  eight 
unions  four  have  at  one  time  or  another  declared  strikes.  They 
have  engaged  in  five  strikes,  in  four  of  which  they  were  suc- 
cessful. One  was  against  a  reduction  of  wages,  and  three  for 
an  increase.  The  fifth  case  was  one  in  which  there  was  a  mis- 
understanding as  to  the  price  agreement.  The  General  Execu- 
tive Board  investigated  the  case,  decided  that  the  employer  was 
right  in  his  contention,  and  ordered  the  members  of  the  local 
union  to  return  to  work.  None  of  these  strikes  were  prolonged 
over  three  weeks,  and  in  only  one  was  any  assistance  required 
from  either  the  international  body  or  other  local  unions.  In  the 
history  of  other  unions  of  women  clothing  workers,  however, 
there  are  records  of  longer  and  more  persistent  strikes.  One 
in  Peoria,  Illinois,  which  had  lasted  three  months  and  in  which 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  393 

one  hundred  and  twenty-five  women,  operators  on  overalls  and 
shirts,  had  participated,  was  terminated  on  May  I,  1902,  by  the 
success  of  the  strikers. 

These  strikes  have  usually  been  conducted  in  a  firm  and  dig- 
nified manner.  The  advantages  possessed  by  the  union  women 
on  strike  consist  not  so  much  in  the  financial  support  on 
which  they  can  count,  though  this  is  in  some  cases  extremely 
important,  as  in  their  habit  of  acting  together  with  a  common 
purpose  and  in  their  possession  of  trained  leaders  in  whom 
they  have  confidence.  The  women  holding  official  positions  in 
the  unions  or  sent  as  delegates  to  the  central  federations  or 
the  national  conventions  find  in  their  union  work  a  school  in 
which  knowledge  of  the  prevailing  conditions  of  the  trade  is 
gained,  clearness  of  judgment  is  developed,  and  a  sense  of 
responsibility  and  fair-mindedness  is  attained.  In  every  large 
union  of  women  is  found  a  small  group  of  able  members  whose 
influence  is  generally  felt  throughout  the  body.  Their  position 
is  frequently  conservative,  and  their  influence  is  often  exerted 
"to  prevent  hasty  and  ill-considered  action.  It  would  be  unfair 
to  leave  the  impression  that  the  existence  of  the  unions  tends  to 
frequent  disagreements  between  employer  and  employed.  It  is 
perhaps  as  often  true  that  they  are  responsible  for  the  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  some  claims  cannot  be  pushed  as  that 
others  can.  And  in  many  cases  difficulties  are  settled  through 
the  mediation  of  the  national  officers  which  in  unorganized 
factories  would  undoubtedly  result  in  strikes  and  temporary 
abandonment  of  work.  While  in  several  instances  the  forma- 
tion of  a  union  has  been  opposed  by  employers,  as  in  the  Peoria 
case  previously  mentioned,  other  employers  prefer  to  deal  with 
an  organization,  feeling  that  it  works  in  favor  of  the  fair 
employer  against  the  unfair. 

It  is  upon  the  ability  of  labor  unions  to  improve  the  economic 
condition  of  their  members  that  their  chief  claim  to  considera- 
tion is  usually  based.  Various  methods  which  have  as  yet 
found  no  place  in  the  women's  organizations  have  been  adopted 
to  accomplish  this  object.  Competition  among  the  women  work- 
ing on  the  class  of  goods  that  we  have  been  considering  is  not 


394 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


keen,  and  the  demand  for  their  work  is  increasing.  Conse- 
quently there  has  been  no  attempt  to  limit  the  supply  of  labor 
by  apprenticeship  regulations  and  no  attempt  to  increase  the 
demand  by  limiting  the  output.  The  desire  has  been  to  make 
tlje  hours,  wages,  and  general  conditions  found  in  the  best 
factories  prevail  throughout  the  trade  and  steadily  to  raise 
rather  than  to  lower  the  standard.  While  in  some  cases  the 
formation  of  the  union  has  made  little  difference  in  the  eco- 
nomic standing  of  its  members,  in  others,  in  the  various  ways 
and  for  the  various  reasons  already  noted,  it  has  been  efficacious. 

To  the  educational  benefits  which  some  of  the  women  derive 
from  the  union  reference  has  already  been  made.  Naturally 
there  are  comparatively  few  who  participate  in  these.  The 
majority  of  the  women  are  not  deeply  interested  in  union 
matters  or  much  affected  by  them.  But  the  sanity  of  judgment 
and  the  business  ability  developed  in  some  of  the  women  are 
noteworthy,  and  are  to  a  great  extent  responsible  for  the  eco- 
nomic benefits  obtained  by  the  body  as  a  whole. 

Aside  from  external  influences,  such  as  the  employer's  desire 
to  retain  the  union  label  and  consequent  encouragement  to  the 
union,  the  most  important  factor  in  keeping  these  women's 
unions  together  is  probably  to  be  found  in  their  social  functions. 
These  are  especially  prominent  in  the  small  towns  and  cities, 
and  do  much  to  retain  the  interest  of  the  members  when  no 
immediate  economic  incentive  to  membership  exists.  The  great 
problem  is  not  to  induce  a  group  of  women  to  form  a  union 
when  they  wish  to  rebel  against  some  injustice,  realizing  that 
they  can  do  so  effectively  only  in  combination.  The  real  dif- 
ficulty is  to  persuade  them  to  remain  together,  to  hold  regular 
meetings,  to  pay  regular  dues,  when  all  is  peaceful  and  they 
see  no  immediate  return  for  such  expenditure  of  time  and 
money.  For  various  reasons  sickness,  death,  and  out-of-work 
benefits  appeal  less  strongly  to  the  women  than  to  the  men. 
Among  the  latter  these  constitute  probably  the  most  powerful 
inducement  to  retain  membership  during  seasons  of  peace  and 
plenty.  In  the  women's  unions  the  development  of  social 
attractions  performs  much  the  same  service.  Unless  through 


WOMEN  IN  THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  395 

practical  compulsion  from  without,  I  doubt  whether  any 
women's  union  has  maintained  itself  with  a  large  membership 
for  a  considerable  number  of  years  without  the  aid  of  dances, 
card  parties,  and  social  gatherings  of  other  kinds.  The  greater 
ease  with  which  social  bonds  are  developed  in  the  small  towns 
and  cities  accounts  largely  for  the  greater  activity  of  the  unions 
located  in  small  places. 

To  the  general  statements  already  made  on  the  subject  of  the 
establishment  of  women's  unions  we  may  add,  from  our  study  of 
eight  well-established  organizations,  the  following  conclusions: 

1.  Successful  unions  have  usually  been  found  among  fairly 
well-educated  American  girls  of  American,  Irish,  or  German 
parentage. 

2.  Such  women   are   chiefly   engaged    in    the   more  highly 
skilled  and  highly  paid  work  on  clothing,  that  is,  in  operating 
on  light-weight  goods  rather  than  in  finishing  clothing.  - 

3.  They  are  found  chiefly  in  factories  working  for  employers 
using  the  union  label. 

4.  While  the  desire  of  the  employer  to  retain  the  label  is  a 
powerful  support  to  the  union,  such  a  union  acts  frequently  for 
the  independent  good  of  its  members  and  not  as  the  mere  tool 
of  the  employer. 

5.  There    are    numerous   instances   in  which  the  economic 
benefits  derived  by  members  from  the  existence  of  the  union 
are  clearly  shown. 

6.  One    of   the    most    important    results   flowing   from  the 
existence  of  women's  unions  is  to  be  found  in  the  development 
of  trained,  intelligent,  and  conservative  workingwomen. 

7.  The  unions  frequently  serve  to  check  hasty  and  incon- 
siderate action  and  to  substitute  arbitration  and  mutual  con- 
cessions for  more  violent  measures. 

8.  Social  gatherings  of  various  kinds  are  extremely  helpful, 
if  not  absolutely  essential,  to  the  retention  of  the  interest  of 
the  majority  of  women  members  during  the  prolonged  periods 
when  they  are  working  for  no  direct  and  immediate  economic 

advantage. 

MABEL  HURD  WILLETT. 


XVIII 

WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK1 

In  an  article  which  first  appeared  in  the  Economic  Journal 
for  December,  1891,  and  which  has  recently  been  reprinted 
in  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  Sidney  Webb  presents  the 
results  of  an  investigation  made  by  him  concerning  the  causes 
of  the  "  alleged  differences  in  the  wages  paid  to  men  and 
women  for  similar  work."  The  facts  which  the  writer  had  to 
present  were  so  few  in  number  that  no  sweeping  generalization 
could  be  made  from  them.  But  though  no  definite  conclusion 
could  be  arrived  at,  the  facts  seemed  to  suggest  that,  so  far  as 
manual  work  is  concerned, 

the  frequent  inferiority  of  woman's  earnings  is  due,  in  the  main,  to  a 
general  but  not  invariable  inferiority  of  productive  power,  usually  in 
quantity,  sometimes  in  quality,  and  nearly  always  in  net  advan- 
tageousness  to  the  employer.2 

This  explanation  of  the  lower  wages  paid  to  women  would, 
the  writer  thinks,  be  even  more  true  in  the  United  States  than 
in  England. 

Custom  is  presumably  less  powerful  in  regulating  wages  in  the 
United  States  than  in  England,  and  in  the  United  States  the  propor- 
tion which  the  average  earnings  of  women  in  manufacturing  industries 
bear  to  those  of  the  men  is,  as  we  have  seen,  considerably  higher 
than  in  this  country.  Where  competition  rates  of  wages  prevail,  and 
especially  where  the  women  are  protected  by  strong  trade  unions, 
they  often  earn  wages  equal  to  those  of  men  for  equal  work.3 

The  suggestion  that  the  lower  wages  paid  to  women  have  at 
least  a  partial  justification  in  the  inferiority  of  women's  work 

1  From  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  XV,  1900,  pp.  508-535. 

2  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  p.  63.  3  Ibid.,  p.  64. 

'   396 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  397 

has  received  the  approval  of  several  eminent  economists  in 
both  England  and  America.  Professor  William  Smart,1  John 
A.  Hobson,2  and  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright3  have  all  agreed 
that  the  inferiority  of  women's  work  is  a  leading  cause  of  the 
lower  wages  paid  to  them.  This  inferiority,  it  is  said,  may 
show  itself  in  several  ways  and  may  itself  be  due  to  other  causes 
than  natural  inability  ;  but  whatever  be  the  explanation,  where 
men  and  women  do  the  same  work  the  women  "  seldom  reach 
man's  level  in  quantity  and  quality." 4  Until  recently  this 
theory  of  women's  wages  has  lacked  adequate  confirmation. 
Mr.  Webb  acknowledged  that  the  facts  cited  by  him  were  too 
few  in  number  to  enable  definite  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from 
them,  and  none  of  the  later  exponents  of  the  theory  have  fur- 
nished us  with  many  additional  illustrations. 

The  importance  of  the  theory  is  almost  self-evident.  No  one 
of  its  supporters  has  pretended  that  it  is  the  only  explanation 
of  the  difference  which  usually  exists  between  men's  and 
women's  wages ;  and  Mr.  Webb  implies  at  least  that  in  other 
than  manual  work  this  is  probably  not  the  chief  cause  of  dis- 
similarity. Popular  opinion  has,  however,  been  directly  opposed 
to  the  views  expressed  by  the  above  writers ;  and  the  general 
feeling  that  employers  discriminate  against  women  in  the  pay- 
ment of  wages  has  found  expression  in  writings  on  the  labor 
problem,  in  the  reports  of  labor  bureaus  and  commissions,  and 
even  in  legislation,  to  such  an  extent  that  it  seems  worth  while 
to  investigate  the  matter  still  further,  in  order  to  see  how  far 
the  theory  in  question  can  be  sustained  by  statistical  evidence. 


The  Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor 
(1897),  entitled  "Work  and  Wages  of  Men,  Women,  and  Chil- 
dren," gives  us  an  opportunity  of  testing  by  a  large  number  of 

1  "  Women's  Wages,"  in  Studies  in  Economics,  pp.  116  ff. 

2  Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,  pp.  299-304. 

3  «  why  Women  are  paid  less  than  Men,"  Forum,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  633. 

4  Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,  p.  302. 


398         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

facts  the  theory  advanced  by  Mr.  Webb,  and  of  observing  how 
far  his  prediction  that  the  theory  would  be  found  more  true  for 
the  United  States  than  for  England  is  realized.  The  report 
itself  was  prepared  with  a  view  of  making  possible  a  comparison 
of  the  wages  paid  to  men,  women,  and  children.  It  furnishes  us 
with  a  statement  of  the  wages  paid  to  employees  in  the  various 
establishments ; 1  gives  the  estimates  of  employers  or  foremen 
as  to  the  relative  efficiency  of  the  men,  women,  and  children 
employed;2  furnishes  a  comparison  of  the  earnings  of  women 
and  children  with  those  of  men  in  cases  where  the  efficiency  is 
the  same ; 3  gives  the  reasons  of  employers  for  hiring  women 
and  girls  rather  than  men,  and  states  whether  their  employ- 
ment is  increasing  ;4  and  also  gives  the  number  of  hours  of  the 
working  week  in  each  establishment.5 

Like  all  statistical  material,  these  tables  need  to  be  used 
with  great  caution,  and  all  conclusions  drawn  therefrom  must 
be  accepted  with  reservation.  The  statements  of  employers 
and  foremen  as  to  the  relative  efficiency  of  their  employees 
and  the  reasons  given  for  employing  females  must  be  received 
with  some  allowance  for  imperfect  knowledge  or  unintentional 
errors.  The  report  itself  gives  the  warning  6  that  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  differences  in  the  character  of  the  work  per- 
formed by  the  men  and  the  women  existed  in  some  instances 
where  no  distinction  was  specified  by  the  employer ;  and  we  shall 
later  have  occasion  to  note  that  this  difference  may  pertain  to 
the  amount  as  well  as  to  the  character  of  the  work  performed.  It 
is  quite  improbable  that  the  real  grounds  of  the  preference  for 
female  labor  are  always  correctly  stated.  Many  of  the  reasons 
given  explain  nothing.  Thus  it  is  obviously  a  contradiction  to 
state  that  men  and  women  are  equally  efficient  in  the  perform- 
ance of  a  certain  kind  of  work  and  then  to  say  that  the  women 
are  "  better  adapted  "  for  its  performance.  To  state  that  women 
are  "cheaper"  than  men  is  doubtless  a  sufficient  reason  for 
preferring  them,  if  their  efficiency  is  the  same ;  but  it  does 

1  Table  I,  pp.  35-513.  4  Table  IV,  pp.  583-610. 

2  Table  II,  pp.  514-547.  5  Table  VI,  pp.  639-645. 

3  Table  III,  pp.  548-582.  6  P.  26. 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  399 

not  go  far  toward  explaining  why  their  wages  are  less.  Yet 
although  the  reasons  given  cannot  be  regarded  as  entirely 
reliable,  they  may  at  times  save  us  from  attributing  an  inferi- 
ority to  women's  work  when  it  does  not  exist. 

Information  as  to  the  relative  efficiency  of  the  men  and  the 
women  could  be  obtained  from  only  436  establishments  out  of 
a  total  of  931  from  which  other  facts  given  in.  the  report  were 
obtained.  But  these  436  establishments  are  pretty  well  distrib- 
uted throughout  the  chief  manufacturing  states  and  represent 
all  the  leading  industries  in  which  women  are  employed.  The 
investigation  may  therefore  be  considered  as  on  the  whole 
tolerably  complete  and  satisfactory. 

The  grades  of  efficiency  of  the  operatives  in  these  436  estab- 
lishments are  indicated  by  an  alphabetical  classification  —  A, 
B,  C,  D,  etc.  —  in  which  A  indicates  the  highest  degree  of 
efficiency,  B  the  next  highest,  and  so  on.  Accordingly,  if  we  find 
men  and  women  performing  the  same  work  in  the  same  estab- 
lishment and  both  designated  by  A,  we  know  that  they  are  sup- 
posed to  be  equally  efficient  and  to  possess  this  efficiency  in 
the  highest  degree.  If,  however,  we  find  men  and  women  per- 
forming the  same  kind  of  work  but  with  the  men  designated 
by  A  while  the  women  are  in  grade  B,  we  know  that  the  women 
are  less  efficient  workers  than  the  men.  This  seems  to  dis- 
pose of  the  question  of  efficiency,  but  unfortunately  it  does  not 
do  so  in  all  cases.  When  we  come  to  discuss  the  question  of 
piecework  we  shall  see  that  the  above  classification  is  open  to 
criticism.  With  these  remarks  explanatory  of  the  report,  we 
may  now  turn  to  a  consideration  of  the  facts  furnished  by  the 
investigation. 

II 

The  class  of  occupations  known  as  "domestic  and  personal 
service  "  is  represented  in  the  report  by  forty-four  establish- 
ments. Eighteen  of  these  report  as  to  the  efficiency  of  the 
employees,  and  of  these  eighteen  only  six  (four  laundries  and 
two  bakeries)  furnish  instances  of  men  and  women  of  the  same 


400        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

degree  of  proficiency  performing  the  same  kind  of  work.  In 
the  laundries  the  operatives  in  question  are  either  ironers, 
washers,  or  clerks.  The  average  earnings  of  the  fourteen  men 
are  23  per  cent  higher  than  those  of  the  twelve  female 
employees;1  in  the  restaurants  male  cooks  receive  average 
earnings  24.6  per  cent  in  excess  of  those  paid  to  females.  There 
is  apparently  no  reason  for  doubting  that  the  efficiency  of  the 
women  employees  was  equal  to  that  of  the  men  in  these  occupa- 
tions, except  that  among  the  ironers  piece  wages  seem  to  pre- 
vail, although  in  some  instances  the  men  work  by  piece  and  the 
women  by  time.  This  makes  it  probable  that  in  this  suboccu- 
pation  the  women  are  not  equal  to  the  performance  of  the  same 
amount  of  work  that  the  men  accomplish.  It  is  also  to  be 
noted  that  in  one  instance  where  men  and  women  are  engaged 
as  pastry  cooks  the  hours  of  work  are  longer  for  the  men  than 
for  the  women.  The  managers  of  the  laundries  claim  that  the 
women  are  "  better  adapted  "  to  perform  the  work  than  are  the 
men,  although  one  manager  also  explains  that  they  are  "cheaper." 
In  the  restaurants  the  women  are  said  to  be  "cheaper,"  although 
in  one  case  they  are  also  said  to  be  "  better  adapted." 

In  the  manufacture  of  bakery  and  confectionery  goods  only 
nine  establishments  out  of  forty-eight  report  as  to  the  efficiency 
of  their  employees,  and  only  four  of  these  establishments 
record  instances  of  men  and  women  of  equal  efficiency  perform- 
ing precisely  the  same  work.  There  are  five  instances  in  these 
establishments  where  the  average  wages  of  forty  women  are 
lower  by  10  per  cent  than  are  the  wages  of  thirty-one  men  per- 
forming the  same  work,  and  one  instance  where  the  same  aver- 
age wages  are  paid  to  four  women  shippers  as  are  paid  to  one 
man  for  the  same  work.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  in 
this  case  the  man's  efficiency  is  of  the  third  grade,  represented 
by  C,  while  the  other  male  shippers  are  in  grade  A  or  B.  All 
the  women  shippers  are  in  class  C,  and  time  wages  prevail  for  all 
employees.  One  of  these  factories  reports  as  its  reason  for 
preferring  women  that  they  are  "  cheaper " ;  another,  that 

1  Throughout  this  paper  all  of  the  figures  given  pertain  to  adults,  —  male  and 
female  workers  eighteen  or  more  years  of  age. 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  401 

they  are  "better  adapted";  a  third,  that  they  are  "better 
adapted,  cheaper,  and  work  more  steadily";  while  the  fourth 
does  not  state  the  grounds  of  its  preference. 

In  the  manufacture  of  paper  boxes  it  would  seem  that  the 
efficiency  and  skill  of  the  female  operatives  should  be  fully 
equal  to  that  of  the  men,  and  that  here  if  anywhere  the  theory 
of  equality  of  wages  for  equality  of  work  should  show  itself. 
But  the  facts  serve  neither  to  prove  nor  to  disprove  the  theory. 
Out  of  a  total  of  thirty  factories  represented  in  the  report 
only  three  report  as  to  the  efficiency  of  their  employees,  and 
only  two  of  these  furnish  examples  of  men  and  women  of  equal 
efficiency  performing  the  same  work.  In  a  Minnesota  factory 
we  find  four  male  workers  receiving  average  wages  of  $7.75 
per  week,  while  fifteen  females  possessing  "  equal  efficiency  " 
receive  on  an  average  only  $5.30^,  or  46.1  per  cent  less  than  the 
men.  The  men  work  on  time  wages,  the  women  on  piece  wages. 
In  the  other  factory,  a  New  York  establishment,  we  find  thir- 
teen male  workers  receiving  average  wages  of  $6.68^,  while  the 
twenty-three  females  receive  $8.49^,  or  27.1  per  cent  higher 
than  the  average  paid  to  men.  Both  piece  and  time  wages  pre- 
vail for  both  sexes,  and  in  both  cases  the  women  receive  the 
higher  pay.  The  highest  wages  paid  to  the  men  are  $10.87; 
the  lowest,  $3.50.  The  highest  wages  paid  to  the  women  are 
$13.03;  the  lowest,  $5.  The  Minnesota  firm  claims  that  the 
women  are  "better  adapted  and  more  industrious,"  while 
the  New  York  firm  merely  says  that  they  are  "  better 
adapted." 

In  the  manufacture  of  brooms  and  brushes  there  are  four 
instances  in  two  establishments  where  sixty-nine  men  receive 
wages  higher  by  55.6  per  cent  than  do  the  seventy  women 
workers  of  like  efficiency.  The  difference  in  wages  is  incon- 
siderable in  the  case  of  the  New  York  factory,  where  time 
wages  prevail,  but  is  very  great  in  the  Maryland  establishment, 
where  both  sexes  are  employed  at  piece  rates. 

The  boot  and  shoe  industry  is  one  of  the  largest  occupations 
in  which  women  find  employment,  and  in  New  England  women 
have  been  employed  in  large  numbers  in  this  industry  since 


402         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

early  in  the  century.1  The  present  report  gives  evidence  con- 
cerning twenty-eight  establishments,  in  which  2442  adult  males 
and  1 183  females  are  employed.  Only  seven  of  these  establish- 
ments, however,  report  as  to  the  efficiency  of  their  employees, 
and  of  these  only  six  furnish  us  data  for  a  comparison  of  men's 
and  women's  wages  for  the  same  work  performed  with  sup- 
posedly equal  efficiency.  In  the  six  establishments  given  there 
are  fifteen  instances  of  this  kind.  In  four  instances  sixteen 
women  receive  average  wages  higher  by  6.4  per  cent  than  do 
the  nine  men  performing  the  same  kind  of  work.  In  the  other 
eleven  instances  the  men  receive  higher  wages,  the  difference 
in  their  favor  being  28.1  per  cent.  There  are  forty-nine  men 
and  fifty-nine  women  covered  by  these  eleven  instances.  The 
branches  of  the  occupation  in  which  the  men  receive  the  higher 
wages  are  stitching,  finishing,  heel  making,  skiving,  sole  cutting, 
and  vamping.  The  women  receive  more  than  the  men  as  stitch- 
ers, buttonhole  makers,  and  vampers.  Both  time  and  piece  wages 
are  paid,  but  the  piece  rates  are  more  noticeable  in  those  branches 
in  which  women  are  most  largely  employed,  especially  stitching 
and  vamping.  The  reasons  usually  given  for  the  employment 
of  women  are  that  they  are  "better  adapted"  or  "cheaper," 
though  one  establishment,  which  pays  less  to  the  women  than 
to  the  men,  says  the  women  are  "  neater  and  more  rapid." 

In  the  manufacture  of  "canned  and  preserved  fruits,  vege- 
tables, and  meats  "  there  are  two  instances  in  which  seventeen 
women  obtain  wages  higher  by  15.7  per  cent  than  do  four  men 
who  do  the  same  work  with  equal  efficiency.  But  there  are 
only  three  establishments  out  of  nineteen  reporting  which 
furnish  instances  of  men  and  women  engaged  in  the  same  occu- 
pations. The  instances  just  given  are  cases  where  men  are 
competing  with  women  in  what  are  essentially  the  women's 
branches  of  the  industry. 

Fifty-six  establishments  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
cigars,  tobacco,  and  snuff  are  considered  in  the  report.  Only 

1  As  early  as  1829,  $60,000  were  paid  out  annually  to  women  engaged  in  the 
boot  and  shoe  manufacture  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts.  —  Wright,  Wages  and  Prices, 
1752-1880,  p.  19. 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  403 

twenty-eight  of  these  report  as  to  the  relative  efficiency  of 
their  employees,  and  of  these  only  thirteen  give  instances  of 
men  and  women  of  the  same  degree  of  efficiency  performing 
the  same  work.  In  the  thirteen  establishments  there  are 
twenty-six  such  instances.  In  six  cases  thirty-five  female 
workers  receive  average  wages  higher  by  14.3  per  cent  than 
do  twenty-three  male  workers  engaged  at  the  same  tasks.  In 
the  other  twenty  instances  the  average  wages  of  the  321  men 
employed  are  20.4  per  cent  higher  than  the  average  wages  of 
the  469  women  who  are  their  competitors.  The  same  general 
superiority  of  men's  wages  has  been  observed  by  Mr.  Webb  in 
the  English  cigar  establishments.  He  explains  it  as  due  to  the 
better  quality  of  cigars  made  by  the  men,  although  he  con- 
fesses that  the  superiority  of  men's  work  is  not  so  clear  here.1 
In  the  absence  of  direct  proof  to  the  contrary  it  would  seem 
that  the  greater  neatness  and  deftness  of  the  women  should 
give  them  an  advantage  in  this  industry.  But  it  is  worthy  of 
note  that  the  majority  of  cases  where  the  women  receive  the 
higher  wages  are  among  the  lower  grades  of  efficiency,  B 
or  C.  The  statement  that  men  generally  receive  the  higher 
wages  is  supported  by  illustrations  from  every  branch  of  the 
tobacco  manufacture,  while  the  instances  where  women 
receive  the  higher  wages  are  confined  to  cigar  makers,  carton 
makers,  and  strippers.  Seven  of  the  thirteen  establishments 
say  as  a  reason  for  employing  women  in  preference  to  men 
that  the  women  are  more  easily  controlled  ;  three  say  that  they 
are  less  liable  to  strike  ;  two,  that  they  are  more  reliable ;  two, 
that  they  are  neater ;  three,  that  they  are  better  adapted  ;  two, 
that  they  are  cheaper ;  two,  that  they  are  more  rapid ;  and 
single  instances  are  given  where  the  women  are  more  industri- 
ous, more  easily  procured,  more  careful,  or  learn  more  rapidly 
than  do  the  male  operatives.2  Of  the  twenty  instances  where  the 
men  earn  more  than  the  women  seventeen  are  cases  where  both 
men  and  women  are  employed  at  piecework ;  two,  where  both 
are  paid  by  time ;  and  one,  where  the  mode  of  payment  is  not 

1  Economic  Journal,  Vol.  I,  p.  639 ;  Problems  of  Modem  Industry,  pp.  51,  52. 

2  In  some  instances  more  than  one  reason  is  given. 


404 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


given.  Of  the  six  instances  where  the  women  receive  the  higher 
wages  two  are  cases  of  piecework;  one,  of  time  wages ;  two,  of 
the  combination  of  the  two  modes  of  remuneration  for  both  sexes; 
and  one,  of  failure  to  name  the  method  of  remuneration. 

The  fact  that  the  higher  wages  are  usually  paid  to  men  is 
well  illustrated  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing.  In  one  Mis- 
souri establishment  engaged  in  making  cloaks  thirteen  tailors 
in  grades  A,  B,  and  C  receive  average  wages  much  in  excess 
of  the  sixteen  tailoresses  who  are  reported  as  performing  the 
same  work  with  equal  efficiency,  while  seven  tailoresses  in 
grade  D  receive  slightly  higher  wages  than  do  three  men  in 
the  same  class..  The  owner  of  this  establishment  reports 
that  the  women  are  "  better  adapted  "  for  the  work  and  are 
"more  easily  controlled"  than  the  men.  There  is  another 
instance  in  the  clothing  industry  where  women  receive  the 
higher  pay.  Three  forewomen  and  designers  for  dresses  and 
cloaks  receive  average  weekly  wages  of  $41.66^-,  while  the  one 
man  similarly  employed  receives  but  $30.  The  women  are  said 
to  be  "better  adapted";  and  one  might  readily  doubt  whether 
in  this  instance  at  least  the  work  is  the  same  for  both  sexes. 
A  North  Carolina  establishment  has  four  men  and  four  women 
engaged  in  selling  clothing  and  dry  goods.  The  women  are 
said  to  be  as  efficient  as  the  men  and  to  be  better  adapted  to 
the  business ;  but  they  receive  on  the  average  only  $4  per 
week,  while  the  men  receive  $11.  Taking  the  clothing  indus- 
try as  a  whole,  so  far  as  represented  in  this  report,  we  find 
five  instances  where  the  men  are  paid  wages  45.6  per  cent 
higher  than  those  received  by  women  and  two  instances  where 
the  women  receive  wages  20.3  per  cent  in  excess  of  those  paid 
to  male  workers  of  the  same  degree  of  efficiency. 

In  the  printing  and  publishing  business  there  are  five 
instances  in  which  women  earn  more  than  men,  the  difference 
in  their  favor  being  on  an  average  16.4  per  cent.  There  are, 
furthermore,  four  instances  where  their  wages  are  equal  to 
those  paid  to  men  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  twenty 
instances  where  the  wages  of  the  men  exceed  those  of  the 
women  by  26.6  per  cent. 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  405 

In  the  manufacture  of  rubber  and  elastic  goods  the  wages 
of  men  and  women  approach  somewhat  nearer  to  equality.  In 
five  instances  the  women  receive  higher  wages,  the  difference 
in  their  favor  being,  however,  only  3.8  per  cent;  and  in  one 
instance  the  same  wages  are  paid  to  men  and  women.  In  only 
four  instances  do  the  men  receive  higher  wages  for  the  same 
work,  the  excess  amounting  to  11.3  per  cent.  But  since  only 
two  industries  in  this  branch  of  manufactures  report  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  their  employees,  no  conclusion  of  wide  applica- 
tion is  possible. 

It  is  rather  startling  to  find  that  in  the  manufacture  of  tin- 
ware and  sheet-metal  goods  the  women  receive  the  higher 
wages  in  the  only  cases  where  men  and  women  of  equal  effi- 
ciency are  found  as  competitors.  But  the  instances  of  such 
competition  are  only  two  in  number,  and  these  are  found  in 
only  two  establishments  out  of  five  investigated.  The  differ- 
ence in  favor  of  the  women  is  reported  as  7.7  per  cent ;  but 
an  inspection  of  the  figures  from  which  the  percentage  is  drawn 
shows  the  difference  to  be  accidental  and  to  be  due  to  that 
source  of  so  many  statistical  fallacies,  the  simple  average. 
Thus  in  one  of  the  instances  given  seventy-eight  men  engaged 
as  solderers  earn  wages  ranging  from  $3  to  $7  per  week,  the 
average  being  $5.09;  while  thirty  women  similarly  employed 
have  the  same  upper  and  lower  limits  to  their  wages,  but  the 
average  in  this  case  is  found  to  be  $5.23^.  In  the  other 
instance  one  male  painter  receives  $5  per  week,  while  four 
women  who  receive  from  $4.50  to  $6  for  the  same  work 
earn  on  an  average  $5.62^-  per  week.  It  is  also  to  be  noted 
that  in  both  these  instances  the  men  and  women  are  placed  as 
regards  efficiency  in  the  second  class,  that  indicated  by  B. 
Only  men  are  found  in  the  A  class. 

In  mercantile  pursuits  the  fact  that  men  generally  receive 
higher  wages  than  women  even  when  they  perform  the  same 
work  with  apparently  the  same  efficiency  is  quite  easily  dem- 
onstrated. In  the  book  and  stationery  trade  there  is  one 
instance  where  one  man  and  three  women  receive  equal  wages 
for  equal  work,  and  one  instance  where  the  men  receive  the 


4o6         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

higher  wages.  In  selling  general  merchandise,  insurance,  and 
sewing  machines,  and  in  miscellaneous  trades,  the  men  receive 
in  all  cases  of  equal  efficiency  the  higher  wages  ;  but  only  eight 
instances  of  such  efficiency,  scattered  throughout  the  same 
number  of  establishments,  are  given. 

In  the  dry-goods  trade  there  are  two  instances  in  two  estab- 
lishments where  four  men  and  three  women  receive  the  same 
pay  for  equal  work  ;  seven  instances  in  six  establishments  where 
eighty-six  women  receive  wages  12.5  per  cent  higher  than  those 
paid  to  eighty-five  men ;  and  one  hundred  and  eleven  instances 
in  seventy-four  establishments  where  the  men's  wages  are  61  per 
cent  higher  than  the  wages  of  the  women,  who  are  said  to  be 
equally  efficient.  Here  again  we  find  that  it  is  invariably  in  the 
lower  grades  of  efficiency,  B,  C,  or  D,  that  the  women  receive 
wages  equal  to  or  higher  than  those  paid  to  men.  Practically 
all  the  instances  where  men  and  women  are  engaged  in  per- 
forming the  same  work  are  among  salesmen  and  saleswomen, 
where  the  only  method  of  payment  is  that  of  time  wages. 

Ill 

It  is  the  textile  industries,  however,  which  afford  the  best 
opportunity  for  testing  the  theory  under  discussion  by  means 
of  the  application  of  statistics.  It  is  in  these  industries  that 
women  have  been  longest  employed  and  are  still  found  in  the 
greatest  numbers. 

In  the  New  England  states,  the  chief  center  of  the  textile 
manufacture,  we  are  confronted  with  the  phenomena  of  long- 
established  industries;  traditional  methods  of  work  and  to 
some  extent  traditional  modes  of  living ;  a  highly  developed 
system  of  factory  legislation,  devised  in  the  interests  of  the 
working  classes ;  strong  trade  unions  among  the  male  workers 
and  in  some  places  organized  female  labor  as  well.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  have  in  the  cotton  manufacture  of  the  southern 
states  an  opportunity  to  study  comparative  wages  where  there 
is  an  absence  of  all  those  restrictions  on  competition  which 
characterize  the  industries  of  New  England.  Fortunately  the 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  407 

report  with  which  we  are  dealing  gives  us  much  fuller  informa- 
tion concerning  the  textile  industries,  especially  the  cotton 
manufacture,  than  for  any  other  industry  or  group  of  industries. 
The  number  of  factories  which  have  reported  as  to  the  relative 
efficiency  of  their  male  and  female  employees,  the  number  of 
instances  of  "equal  efficiency"  given,  and  the  large  number  of 
employees  of  both  sexes  show  that  the  results  of  the  investi- 
gation are  not  merely  accidental.  In  the  cotton  industry,  for 
example,  the  investigation  covers  eighty-six  factories.  Sixty- 
three  of  these  establishments  report  as  to  the  efficiency  of 
their  employees,  and  fifty-five  of  them  furnish  instances  of  men 
and  women  performing  the  same  work  with  what  is  said  to  be 
equal  efficiency.  The  eight  factories  which  do  not  furnish  such 
instances  are  for  the  most  part  small  establishments.  The 
total  number  of  adult  males  in  these  eight  factories  is  only 
sixty  and  of  adult  females  fifty-two.  In  the  fifty-five  mills 
which  furnish  examples  of  men  and  women  of  like  degrees  of 
efficiency  performing  the  same  work  there  are  fifty-six  instances 
where  the  women  receive  higher  wages  than  do  the  men.  The 
average  wages  of  these  women  are  8.6  per  cent  higher  than  the 
corresponding  average  for  men.  In  one  hundred  and  ninety-five 
instances  the  men  receive  average  wages  17.6  per  cent  higher 
than  the  wages  paid  to  the  women  who  perform  similar  work, 
while  in  thirty-six  instances  men  and  women  receive  equal 
wages  for  equal  work.  Owing  to  the  importance  of  this  indus- 
try and  the  number  of  instances  of  equal  efficiency  cited,  we 
shall  examine  these  figures  somewhat  in  detail. 

In  speaking  of  women's  wages  in  the  cotton  industry  of 
England  Mr.  Webb  says : 

Perhaps  the  clearest  case  of  similar  work  is  that  of  the  Lancashire 
cotton  weavers,  where  men  and  women  often  perform  exactly  the 
same  work  side  by  side  in  the  same  shed  under  practically  the  same 
Factory  Act  restrictions.  Here  the  piecework  rates  are  the  same  for 
women  as  for  men,  and  clever  women  often  get  through  more  work 
and  thus  earn  higher  weekly  wages  than  some  of  the  men.  A  similar 
equality  of  task  wages  appears  to  prevail  in  cotton  weaving  in  France.1 

1  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  pp.  54,  55. 


408         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  concerning  the  wages  of  cotton 
weavers  in  England  and  France,  the  investigation  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  does  not  show  that  any  such  equality  in  the 
remuneration  of  men  and  women  exists  among  American  cotton 
weavers.  There  are  nineteen  instances  in  ten  mills  where  201 
female  operatives  receive  the  same  average  wages  as  do  169 
men  performing  the  same  work  with  the  same  degrees  of 
efficiency.  There  are,  furthermore,  twenty-nine  instances  in 
twenty-one  mills  where  753  women  employed  at  weaving 
receive  higher  wages  than  do  the  585  men  who  perform  the 
same  work  with  equal  efficiency.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
ninety-nine  instances  in  forty-three  factories  where  3015  men 
receive  higher  average  wages  than  those  paid  to  5560  women 
who  do  the  same  work  and  are  said  to  be  equally  efficient. 

No  other  branch  of  the  cotton  manufacture  furnishes  so 
many  instances  of  men  and  women  performing  the  same  work 
as  does  the  business  of  weaving.  Nearly  all  the  principal  sub- 
occupations —  spinning,  carding,  speeding,  warping  —  furnish 
examples  of  equality  of  wages  in  a  few  instances,  but  in  the 
great  majority  of  cases  the  inferiority  of  women's  wages  is 
clearly  demonstrated.  The  table  on  the  opposite  page  shows 
the  terms  of  competition  between  men  and  women  for  the 
cotton  manufacture  as  a  whole  and  for  all  the  leading  branches 
of  the  industry  as  well. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  geographical  distribution  of 
the  various  cases  within  the  industry  where  the  women  receive 
wages  equal  to  or  higher  than  those  paid  to  men  for  the  same 
work  performed  with  equal  efficiency.  As  already  noted,  the 
cotton  factories  are  generally  situated  either  in  the  New  Eng- 
land or  the  South  Atlantic  states,  especially  in  the  Carolinas 
and  Georgia.  Now,  of  the  thirty-six  instances  in  this  indus- 
try where  men  and  women  receive  equal  wages  for  equal  work 
thirty-one  are  in  the  South  and  only  five  are  in  New  Eng- 
land. Of  the  fifty-six  instances  in  which  the  women  receive 
higher  wages  than  are  paid  to  men  twenty-four  are  in  New 
England,  twenty-four  in  the  South,  and  eight  in  the  middle  and 
western  states.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  instances  in 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK 


409 


COMPARISON  OF  WAGES  OF  MEN  AND  WOMEN  IN  THE  COTTON 
MANUFACTURE 


Men  and  Women 

Men  receive  Higher 

Women  receive 

receive  Equal  Wages 

Wages 

Higher  Wages 

Occupation 

n 

8 

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i 

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C 

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£ 

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a 

£ 

£ 

~ 

S 

£ 

All  branches   .     . 

20 

36 

235 

238 

47 

'95 

3951 

7036 

29 

56 

888 

III3 

Weaving     .     .     . 

10 

19 

169 

201 

43 

99 

3015 

5560 

21 

29 

585 

753 

Spinning     .     .     . 

I 

I 

5 

8 

7 

20 

82 

563 

3 

3 

12 

17 

Carding.     .     .     . 

I 

2 

*9 

3 

7 

I  2 

47 

52 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Speeding    .     .     . 

2 

2 

5 

4 

7 

IO 

67 

116 

4 

4 

15 

32 

Warping     .     .     . 

2 

2 

4 

2 

3 

3 

8 

26' 

i 

i 

13 

38 

Dressing     .     .     . 

— 

— 

— 



3 

7 

78 

74 

— 

— 

— 

Doffing  .... 

I 

I 

i 

2 

2 

4 

43 

S2 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Finishing    .     .     . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

3 

3 

40 

19 

— 

— 



— 

Twisting     .     .     . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

i 

i 

i 

i 

2 

3 

37 

IS 

Beaming     .     .     . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

2 

54 

101 

Slabbing     .     .     . 

I 

I 

4 

I 

4 

4 

34 

55 

I 

I 

3 

i 

All  other     .     .     . 

7 

8 

28 

17 

6 

32 

536 

518 

4 

'3 

169 

156 

which  the  men  receive  the  higher  wages  forty-nine  are  in  the 
South,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  in  New  England,  and  eleven 
in  the  middle  and  western  states.  These  facts  seem  to  give 
some  support  to  Mr.  Webb's  statement  that  "where  competition 
rates  of  wages  prevail  and  where  the  women  are  protected  by 
strong  trade  unions,  they  often  earn  wages  equal  to  those  of 
men  for  equal  work."  1  The  cotton  industry  in  the  South  is  of 
recent  development,  and  the  high  demand  for  labor  has  enabled 
women,  as  well  as  men,  to  secure  high  wages.2  Custom  is  doubt- 
less largely  responsible  for  the  lower  rate  of  wages  paid  to 
women  in  New  England,  where  the  industry  has  been  long  estab- 
lished. In  the  South  both  male  and  female  labor  is  unorganized, 
while  in  New  England  the  men  have  the  assistance  of  strong 
trade  unions.  In  many  places  the  women  do  not  belong  to  the 

1  Economic  Journal,  Vol.  I,  p.  649;  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  p.  64. 

2  Nominal  wages  are  of  course  lower  for  both  sexes  than  in  the  New  England 
states.    But  the  labor  cost  per  spindle  is  somewhat  higher  in  the  South  than  in 
Massachusetts.  —  See  Labor  Bulletin  of  Massachusetts,  No.  5  (January,  1898),  p.  5. 


410        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

same  unions  as  the  men,  and  in  many  others  they  are  entirely 
unorganized,  so  that  they  are  less  able  to  enforce  a  demand  for 
higher  wages.  It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  in  those  instances 
where  men's  wages  are  higher  than  women's  the  difference  is 
much  greater  in  New  England  than  in  the  South,  where  it  is 
often  insignificant. 

The  results  of  the  investigation  which  have  thus  far  been 
presented  do  not  seem  to  bear  out  the  conclusion  of  Messrs. 
Webb,  Smart,  Hobson,  and  Wright  that  where  men  and  women 
perform  the  same  work  and  do  it  equally  well  their  wages  are 
usually  the  same.  Among  the  cotton  weavers,  where  Mr.  Webb 
thinks  the  conditions  of  employment  are  practically  the  same 
for  both  sexes,  we  find  that  out  of  a  total  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  instances,  representing  6514  women  and  3769  men, 
in  only  nineteen  instances,  or  12.92  percent  of  the  total  number, 
do  men  and  women  receive  equal  wages.  The  201  women  repre- 
sented by  these  nineteen  instances  form  only  3.08  per  cent  of 
the  entire  number  of  women  weavers.  In  twenty-nine  instances, 
or  19.73  per  cent  of  the  total  number,  the  women  earn  more  than 
the  men;  but  there  are  only  753  women  included  in  this  class, 
and  these  constitute  only  1 1.56  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of 
women  engaged  in  weaving.  In  the  other  ninety-nine  instances, 
comprising  67.34  per  cent  of  the  total  number,  the 'men  earn 
the  higher  wages.  The  women  here  comprise  85.36  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  women  weavers.  The  other  branches  of  the 
cotton  industry  make  an  even  less  favorable  showing  for  the 
women  employees,  as  can  readily  be  seen  in  the  above  table. 

There  is  still  another  way  of  testing  Mr.  Webb's  theory 
that  women  usually  do  inferior  work  and  that  where  their 
wages  are  inferior  to  men's  it  is  because  their  work  is  inferior. 
If  this  were  true  in  the  cotton  industry,  we  might  expect  that 
the  instances  where  the  women  earn  wages  as  high  as  or 
higher  than  those  paid  to  men  would  generally  occur  in  the 
lower  grades  of  efficiency.  On  the  contrary,  of  the  thirty-six 
instances  of  equal  remuneration  for  men  and  women  twenty- 
three  are  in  grade  A ;  while  of  the  fifty-six  instances  where 
the  women  receive  the  higher  pay  twenty-six  are  in  class  A 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  411 

and  seventeen  in  class  B.  No  final  conclusions  can  be  drawn 
from  these  facts,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  bear  out  the  idea 
that  women's  wages  in  the  cotton  industry  are  lower  because 
their  work  is  inferior. 

Of  the  eighty-six  industries  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
cotton  goods  included  in  the  investigation,  all  but  eight  report 
the  employment  of  women  in  the  mills  to  be  increasing.  The 
reasons  given  by  superintendents  and  managers  for  employing 
women  are  in  sixty-six  instances  that  they  are  more  easily 
controlled  ;  in  seventeen,  that  they  are  more  reliable ;  in  thir- 
teen, that  they  are  cheaper  ;  in  eleven,  that  they  are  more  indus- 
trious ;  in  nine,  that  they  are  more  rapid ;  in  five,  that  they 
are  neater;  in  two,  that  they  are  more  careful;  and  in  one 
each,  that  they  are  less  liable  to  strike  and  are  cleaner.1 

The  other  textile  industries  present  fewer  instances  of  men 
and  women  engaged  in  doing  similar  work  and  possessing 
equal  efficiency  as  workers,  but  so  far  as  the  facts  are  given 
they  reveal  the  same  results  as  the  cotton  industry.  In  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  and  woolen  goods  there  are  in  eight 
factories  fifteen  instances  where  men  earn  wages  20.9  per  cent 
higher  than  do  women  for  the  same  work,  four  instances  (one 
among  finishers  and  three  among  weavers)  where  the  women 
earn  9.8  per  cent  higher  wages  than  do  the  men,  and  one 
instance,  among  the  weavers,  of  equality  in  wages.  In  the 
manufacture  of  hosiery,  knit  goods,  and  underwear  there  are 
represented  eighteen  factories  in  which  equal  efficiency  is 
recorded.  In  seven  instances  the  women  receive  the  higher 
wages,  the  difference  in  their  favor  being  7.7  per  cent ;  but  in 
eighteen  instances  the  wages  of  the  men  exceed  those  of  the 
women  by  23.1  per  cent.  In  the  manufacture  of  jute  goods 
there  are  two  instances  where  men  earn  more  than  the  women 
and  two  instances  where  their  wages  are  equal.  In  the  silk 
industry,  represented  by  seven  establishments,  there  are  seven- 
teen instances  of  equal  efficiency.  One  of  these  is  among 
spinners,  one  among  winders,  and  the  other  fifteen  among 
weavers.  In  eleven  instances  the  men  receive  the  higher 
1  In  some  instances  more  than  one  of  the  above  reasons  are  given. 


412 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


wages,  in  five  instances  the  higher  wages  go  to  the  women,  and 
in  one  instance  the  wages  are  equal.  Where  men's  wages  are 
higher  the  difference  is  20.8  per  cent ;  where  women's  wages 
are  higher  the  difference  is  only  9.4  per  cent.  In  the  manu- 
facture of  woolen  and  worsted  goods  there  are  ninety-nine 
instances  where  the  men  earn  wages  higher  by  34.3  per  cent 
than  do  the  women,  who  are  said  to  be  equally  efficient.  In 
only  ten  instances  do  the  women  receive  the  higher  wages, 
and  the  difference  in  their  favor  is  slight,  being  only  5.5  per 
cent.  Eight  of  these  instances  are  among  weavers,  one  among 
spoolers,  and  one  among  finishers.  Of  the  thirty  instances  in 
the  textile  industries  other  than  cotton  where  women's  wages 
equal  or  exceed  the  wages  paid  to  men  sixteen  are  in  the 
highest  grade  of  efficiency  and  seven  in  the  next  highest.  The 
others  are  scattered  through  the  grades  C,  D,  and  E. 

IV 

The  statistics  thus  far  presented  show  for  all  the  leading 
industries  in  which  manual  labor  is  employed  (i)  that  men's 
wages  are  generally  superior  to  those  paid  to  women,  even 
where  the  work  is  the  same  ;  (2)  that  in  those  instances  where 
the  women  receive  higher  wages  than  the  men  the  difference 
in  their  favor  is  much  less  than  the  difference  in  favor  of  the 
men  in  the  instances  in  the  same  industries  where  the  men's 
wages  are  higher;  (3)  that  while  women's  wages  are  more 
nearly  equal  to  men's  in  the  textile  industries,  especially  in 
weaving,  even  here  men's  wages  are  unquestionably  superior ; 
(4)  that  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  within  the  textile 
industries  where  the  women  receive  wages  as  high  as  or  higher 
than  the  men  the  competition  between  the  sexes  takes  place 
within  the  higher  grades  of  efficiency,  A  and  B,  and  therefore 
does  not  indicate  an  inferiority  in  women's  work.  We  must  now 
turn  to  a  consideration  of  certain  facts  which  may  serve  to 
modify  the  conclusions  to  which  our  work  has  thus  far  led  us. 

Mr.  Webb  has  pointed  out  that  among  the  Lancashire  cotton 
weavers,  where  the  women  earn  wages  apparently  equal  to 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  413 

those  paid  to  men,  the  payment  is  by  piece ; 1  and  he  further 
states  that  weaving  "  appears  to  be  nearly  always  paid  at  equal 
rates,  whatever  the  material  or  locality."2  In  this  country  it 
is  not  easy  to  determine  conclusively  whether  in  occupations 
where  piece  wages  prevail  the  wages  of  men  and  women  are 
more  nearly  equal  than  they  are  in  occupations  where  time 
wages  are  the  rule.  Time  wages  predominate  in  the  majority 
of  American  industries  and  are  unquestionably  much  more  com- 
monly employed  than  in  English  industries.  In  certain  branches 
of  some  industries,  however,  payment  by  piece  is  the  rule  in  the 
United  States  as  well  as  in  England,  and  this  is  especially  true 
of  weaving.  Some  of  the  New  England  cotton  mills  pay  for 
weaving  partly  by  piece  and  partly  by  time,  and  there  are  a 
few  instances  where  the  men  are  paid  by  time  and  the  women 
by  piece.  But  among  all  the  eighty-six  industries  engaged  in 
cotton  manufacture  that  are  included  in  the  investigation  of 
the  Department  of  Labor,  there  is  but  one,  I  believe,  where 
weaving  is  paid  for  entirely  by  time. 

The  question  now  arises  whether,  in  cases  where  men  and 
women  are  engaged  in  the  performance  of  similar  work  and  are 
said  to  be  equally  efficient,  and  where  the  mode  of  payment 
is  by  piece,  differences  in  wages  are  to  be  explained  by  a 
difference  in  the  rate  of  payment  per  piece  or  by  a  difference 
in  the  quantity  produced  within  a  given  time.  To  this  ques- 
tion the  report  itself  affords  no  direct  answer.  It  would  seem 
that  any  comparison  of  efficiency  should  certainly  be  based 
on  quantitative  as  well  as  on  qualitative  measurements.  The 
introduction  to  the  statistical  tables  says  that  the  data  as  to 
relative  efficiency  of  employees  "represent  the  best  judgment 
of  the  best-informed  officials  or  foremen  of  each  establish- 
ment."3 Doubt  is  expressed  as  to  whether  the  report  always 
distinguishes  between  the  grades  of  work  in  an  occupation  where 
women  and  children  may  be  doing  lighter  work  than  the  male 
employees;  but  it  implies  at  least  that  in  other  respects  the 
statements  as  to  relative  efficiency  may  be  relied  upon. 

1  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  p.  52. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  54.  8  Ibid.,  p.  26. 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

It  now  appears  that  this  is  not  the  case,  at  least  so  far  as 
piecework  is  concerned.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  concerning 
this  point  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  remarks  that 

it  was  impossible  to  take  account  of  piece  rates.  ...  In  the  report 
"  equal  efficiency  "  is  a  term  which  applies  more  to  quality  of  work 
done  than  to  quantity.  The  determination  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
parties  involved  in  the  investigation  was,  of  course,  by  foremen. 
I  am  satisfied  that  in  most  cases  their  idea  of  efficiency  involved 
quality  more  than  quantity,  —  that  a  woman  might  weave  goods  just 
as  well  and  produce  just  as  good  a  quality  in  her  results  as  a  man, 
although  she  might  not  weave  so  many  yards  in  a  day ;  hence  there 
would  be  a  variation  in  the  pay,  although  the  piece  rates  were  the 
same.  It  has  been  our  experience  that  wherever  men  and  women 
work  at  piece  rates  they  are  paid  the  same  for  the  same  quantity  of 
product,  but  time  worked,  quantity,  and  other  reasons  might  work  a 
variation  in  the  amount  paid  to  each  in  the  aggregate.1 

From  this  explanation  it  would  appear  that  in  cases  where 
men  and  women  receive  different  compensation  for  performing 
the  same  work  the  difference  in  wages  may  after  all  be  due 
to  a  real  difference  in  the  amount  of  work  performed,  —  that 
in  all  probability  this  is  the  real  explanation  for  differences  in 
wages  in  those  occupations  where  piece  rates  prevail.  If  this 
be  true,  the  report  gives  much  greater  support  to  the  theories 
of  Messrs.  Webb,  Hobson,  Smart,  and  Wright  than  seems  to 
be  the  case  from  a  mere  examination  of  the  tables.  Of  the 
781  instances  recorded  where  men  and  women  perform  the 
same  work  "with  the  same  degrees  of  efficiency,"  217  are 
instances  of  payment  by  piece  rates.  There  are,  furthermore, 
167  instances  where  both  time  and  piece  wages  are  paid,  —  in 
some  cases  the  men  being  paid  by  time  and  the  women  by 
piece,  in  other  cases  both  modes  of  payment  being  applied  to 
both  sexes.  In  all  these  instances  where  differences  in  earn- 
ings exist  they  might  be  explained,  in  part  at  least,  by  differ- 
ence in  productivity.  The  following  table  shows  for  the  entire 
group  of  industries  the  modes  of  payment  and  the  relative  stand- 
ing of  the  men  and  women  as  respects  their  earning  capacity. 

1  Personal  letter  from  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  August  23,  1898. 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK 


415 


WAGES  AND  MODE  OF  PAYMENT  —  ALL  INDUSTRIES 


Relative  Wages  paid  to 
Men  and  Women 

Total  Number 
of  Instances 
of  Equal 
Efficiency 

Time 
Wages 

Piece 
Wages 

Time  and 
(or)  Piece 
Wages 

Mode  of 
Payment 
not  given 

Men  earn  more  than 

women      
Women  earn  more  than 
men       .     . 

595 

I  2Q 

279 
•7  r 

147 

C2 

133 

36 

Men  and  women  receive 

JD 

J* 

31 

equal  wages  .... 

57 

3° 

18 

3 

6 

Total     .... 

781 

344 

217 

167 

53 

Dropping  out  of  consideration  the  fifty-three  instances  where 
the  mode  of  payment  is  not  specified,  we  find  that  in  over  half 
the  remaining  instances  the  amount  of  work  performed  enters 
as  a  cause  —  perhaps  the  chief  cause  —  of  differences  in  wages. 
The  number  of  instances  of  equal  wages  is  small,  almost  insig- 
nificant, when  compared  with  the  number  of  instances  where 
such  equality  does  not  exist.  The  number  of  instances  where  the 
women  earn  higher  wages  than  the  men  is  also  small  when  com- 
pared with  the  instances  where  the  men's  earnings  are  higher ; 
but  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  proportion  is  higher  where 
women  are  given  an  opportunity  to  earn  high  wages  on  the 
piece-rate  plan  than  it  is  in  the  case  of  time  wages.  This  fact 
is  emphasized  by  the  table  on  the  following  page,  which  shows 
the  modes  of  payment  and  the  relative  earnings  of  men  and 
women  in  the  seven  leading  industries  in  which  women  are 
employed. 

Returning  now  to  the  textile  industries  and  examining  the 
instances  of  equal  efficiency  in  the  business  of  weaving  in  the 
light  of  our  recent  discovery  as  to  piece  rates,  we  find  that 
nearly  all  of  the  two  hundred  and  forty-two  instances  of  so-called 
equal  efficiency  must  be  considered  equal  only  as  respects  the 
quality  and  not  as  respects  the  quantity  of  the  work.  The  table 
on  page  417  indicates  a  general  inferiority  of  women's  work  in 
this  branch  of  the  textile  manufacture. 


41 6        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


WAGES  AND  MODE  OF  PAYMENT  —  SEVEN  LEADING  INDUSTRIES 


Industry 

Relative  Wages  paid  to 
Men  and  Women 

Instances 
of  Equal 
Efficiency 

Time 
Wages 

Piece 
Wages 

Time  and 
(or)  Piece 
Wages 

Mode  of 
Paym't 
not 
given 

Boots  and  shoes 

Men  earn  more  .  . 
Women  earn  more 

II 

4 

— 

I 

3 

6 
i 

3 

Cigars,  tobacco, 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

20 

2 

17 

— 

i 

and  snuff 

Women  earn  more 

6 

1 

2 

2 

i 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

15 

I 

s 

6 

3 

Cotton  and  woolen 

Women  earn  more 

4 

I 

I 

i 

i 

goods 

Wages  equal  for 

men  and  women 

i 



— 

— 

i 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

J95 

49 

59 

75 

12 

Cotton  goods 

Women  earn  more 
Wages  equal  for 

56 

9 

25 

15 

7 

men  and  women 

36 

14 

i? 

i 

4 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

ii 

— 

10 

i 

— 

Silk  and  silk 

Women  earn  more 

5 

— 

4 

i 

— 

goods 

Wages  equal  for 

men  and  women 

i 

i 

— 

— 

— 

Hosiery,  knit  goods, 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

18 

5 

i 

8 

4 

and  underwear 

Women  earn  more 

7 

<? 

3 

2 

Woolen  and 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

99 

42 

26 

23 

8 

worsted  goods 

Women  earn  more 

10 

3 

7 

— 

— 

Although  over  one  third  of  the  total  number  of  instances  of 
equal  wages  paid  to  men  and  women  which  are  given  in  the 
report  are  found  in  this  one  branch  of  the  textile  manufacture, 
these  instances  constitute  only  about  8^  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  instances  of  "  equal  efficiency  "  found  in  weaving ; 
and  if  to  these  we  add  the  further  instances  where  the  women 
earn  the  higher  wages,  we  still  have  only  27.27  per  cent  of  the 
total  number.  In  other  words,  in  an  occupation  in  which  the 
women  employed  outnumber  the  men  and  one  which  is  univer- 
sally regarded  as  suited  to  the  employment  of  women,  in  those 
cases  where  the  same  rates  per  piece  are  paid  to  women  as 
to  men  the  superiority  of  men's  work  is  shown  by  the  fact 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK 


417 


WAGES  AND  MODE  OF  PAYMENT  FOR  WEAVING 


Industry 

Relative  Wages  paid  to 
Men  and  Women 

Instances 
of  Equal 
Efficiency 

Time 
Wages 

Piece 
Wages 

Time  and 
(or)  Piece 
Wages 

Mode  of 
Paym't 
not 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

'77 

I 

98 

66 

12 

All  textile 

Women  earn  more 

46 

2 

30 

9 

5 

industries 

Wages  equal  for 

men  and  women 

20 

— 

*9 

— 

I 

Bags  and  bagging 

Men  earn  more  .  . 
Women  earn  more 

3 

— 

3 

— 

— 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

2 



2 





Carpets 

Women  earn  more 

2 

— 

2 

— 

— 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

13 

— 

6 

5 

2 

Cotton  and  woolen 

Women  earn  more 

3 

— 

i 

i 

I 

goods 

Wages  equal  for 

men  and  women 

i 

— 

— 

— 

I 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

99 

— 

52 

39 

8 

Cotton  goods 

Women  earn  more 
Wages  equal  for 

29 

~ 

19 

7 

3 

men  and  women 

19 

— 

!9 

— 

— 

Silk  and  silk 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

ii 

I 

7 

3 

— 

goods 

Women  earn  more 

4 

— 

3 

i 

— 

Woolen  and 

Men  earn  more  .  . 

49 

'  — 

28 

19 

2 

worsted  goods 

Women  earn  more 

8 

2 

5 

— 

I 

that  in  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  instances  cited  their  wages 
are  higher  than  those  paid  to  their  female  competitors.  This, 
like  the  other  facts  as  to  piece  wages  cited  above,  certainly 
gives  strong  support  to  the  opinion  that  the  lower  wages  of 
women  in  manual  occupations  are  the  direct  result  of  their 
lower  productivity. 

The  same  conclusions  cannot  be  applied  with  the  same 
degree  of  certainty  to  occupations  where  time  wages  prevail, 
but  there  are  reasons  for  doubting  even  here  whether  the 
term  "equal  efficiency  "  can  be  made  to  exclude  all  differences 
in  the  producing  power  of  men  and  women.  When  we  turn  to 
Table  VI  of  the  report,  where  the  number  of  working  hours 


418         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

per  week  is  given,  we  find  that  twenty-two  instances  out  of  the 
two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  where  men  earn  higher  wages 
than  do  women  and  where  both  sexes  are  employed  at  time 
wages  can  be  explained  by  a  difference  in  the  number  of  hours 
worked,  the  women  putting  in  from  one  and  a  half  to  twelve 
hours  less  time  per  week  than  the  men.  It  is  highly  probable, 
,  if  not  certain,  that  this  means  lower  productivity  on  the  part  of 
the  womfen.  We  have,  as  a  further  indication,  if  not  proof,  of 
the  inferiority  of  women's  work,  the  fact  that  outside  of  the 
industries  where  women  are  most  largely  employed  and  where 
piece  rates  prevail  the  tendency  toward  equality  of  wages  or 
even  higher  wages  for  women  is  quite  generally  found  to  exist 
in  the  lower  grades  of  efficiency.  Reference  has  already  been 
made  to  this  fact  in  the  case  of  the  manufacture  of  bakery  and 
confectionery  goods,  in  cigar  and  cigarette  manufacturing,  in 
the  clothing  industry,  in  the  manufacture  of  tinware  and  sheet- 
metal  goods,  and  in  the  dry-goods  trade.  But  the  same  thing  is 
true  in  the  manufacture  of  bags  and  bagging,  of  dress  trim- 
mings, of  gloves  and  mittens,  of  rubber  and  elastic  goods,  of 
watch  and  clock  machinery,  and  of  kindling  wood.  It  is  also 
true  of  library  work  and  of  the  book  and  stationery  trade. 

In  all  these  industries,  although  in  a  few  instances  women 
earn  wages  as  high  as 'or  even  higher  than  the  men  in  the 
same  occupations,  the  competition  takes  place  in  the  lower 
grades  of  efficiency,  while  in  the  upper  grades  men  alone  are 
employed ;  or  if  men  are  employed  along  with  women,  their 
earnings  are  higher. 


The  American  investigation  furnishes  considerable  support 
to-  the  opinions  of  the  English  investigators,  that  men  and 
women  seldom  come  into  direct  competition  even  when  em- 
ployed in  the  same  establishments.  This  is  naturally  the  first 
point  to  be  determined  in  framing  an  answer  to  the  question, 
Why  do  women  receive  lower  wages  than  men  ?  If  the  work 
performed  by  men  and  women  is  not  the  same,  the  inequality 
of  wages  may  be  due  wholly  or  in  part  to  the  inequalities  of 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  419 

employment.  The  question  then  becomes,  as  Professor  Smart 
puts  it,  "  Why  are  men  and  women  employed  in  different 
groups  of  employment  ?  "  1 

The  supporters  of  the  marginal-productivity  theory  of  wages 
naturally  look  to  women's  wages  for  confirmation  of  their  views. 
Professor  Smart  in  his  treatment  of  women's  wages  clearly  has 
this  theory  in  mind.  Since  the  time  of  Jevons,  says  he, 

we  have  looked  for  the  measure  of  value  in  marginal  utility;  for  the 
value  of  "production  goods"  in  their  marginal  utility  as  instruments 
of  production ;  and  with  these  for  the  value  of  labor  in  the  value  of 
its  marginal  product  and  not  in  any  predetermined  fund  divided  out 
among  a  variable  number  of  workers.2 

Accordingly  he  looks  to  the  price  of  an  article  as  the  first 
thing  to  be  considered  in  determining  the  value  of  the  labor 
which  helped  to  produce  it.  Although  he  rejects  the  notion 
that  wages  are  low  because  goods  are  cheap,  and  points  out 
that  the  initiative  in  reducing  prices  comes  from  producers, 
he  is  inclined  to  think  that  the  explanation  for  the  low  wages 
of  women  rests  in  the  fact  that 

women  are  in  almost  exclusive  possession  of  certain  branches  of 
trade,  and  that  in  these  branches  the  commodities  made  are  recog- 
nized by  public  opinion  as  being  "  cheap."  Common  observation 
must  confirm  Mr.  Webb's  conclusion  that  there  are  certain  trades 
where  men  do  not  compete  with  women  ;  indeed,  that  there  is  a 
well-marked  relegation  of  women  workers  toward  certain  ill-paid 
trades  ;  while  at  the  same  time  there  is  as  well-marked  a  movement 
of  men  toward  the  better-paid  trades.3 

As  the  investigation  made  by  the  Department  of  Labor  took 
place  in  industries  where  both  men  and  women  were  engaged 
in  turning  out  a  given  product  or  series  of  products,  we  can- 
not very  well  find  in  it  either  confirmation  or  disproof  of  the 
statement  that  women  are  paid  less  than  men  because  they 
produce  "cheap"  commodities.  If  women  stitchers  and  men 
lasters  are  employed  in  the  making  of  the  same  shoes,  we  can- 
not well  claim  that  the  women  are  paid  less  than  the  men 

1  Studies  in  Economics,  p.  122.          2  Ibid.,  p.  in.          8  Ibid.,  p.  122. 


420         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

because  their  products  are  less  valuable.  However,  if  we  can 
show  that  women  are  generally  employed  as  stitchers  and  men 
as  lasters,  we  may  find  a  reason,  if  not  a  justification,  for  the 
lower  wages  paid  to  them.  It  is  this  view  of  the  situation 
which  the  results  of  the  American  investigation  apparently 
confirm.  A  search  through  Table  I  of  the  report,  which  gives 
the  number  of  men,  women,  and  children  employed  in  each 
subdivision  of  the  industries  investigated,  reveals  the  fact  that 
outside  of  the  textile  manufactures  in  the  majority  of  the 
important  industries  men  and  women  are  seldom  employed  in 
the  same  suboccupations.  The  women's  work,  therefore,  does 
not  come  into  direct  competition  with  that  of  men. 

The  manufacture  of  cigars,  cigarettes,  smoking  tobacco,  and 
snuff  presents  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  There  are 
fifty  establishments  employing  3327  men  and  2989  women  rep- 
resented in  the  report,  and  in  all  of  the  important  branches 
of  the  manufacture  both  sexes  seem  to  be  employed.  Here 
we  find  no  direct  proof  to  confirm  the  opinion  cautiously 
expressed  by  Mr.  Webb1  that  the  women  do  inferior  work  in 
this  industry,  although  the  facts  as  to  piece  rates  and  the 
prevalence  of  women  in  the  lower  grades  of  efficiency  give 
indirect  support  to  the  notion  that  their  work  is  less  valuable 
to  their  employers. 

In  the  textile  industries  there  are  more  examples  than  else- 
where of  men  and  women  at  work  in  the  same  branches  of 
the  industry ;  but  even  here  by  far  the  largest  number  of 
the  women  are  employed  as  drawers-in,  spinners,  speeders, 
warpers,  and  weavers,  while  the  men  absorb  the  majority  of 
the  other  branches.  In  the  cotton  industry,  for  example,  in 
the  eighty-six  establishments  included  in  the  report  there  are 
fifty-five  occupations  in  which  women  are  reported  as  employees, 
but  in  the  majority  of  these  occupations  there  are  only  a  few 
women.  Women  are  employed  in  sixty-five  mills  as  weavers, 
in  sixty  as  spinners,  in  fifty-nine  as  spoolers,  in  twenty-two  as 
drawers-in,  in  twenty  as  speeders,  in  eleven  as  slubbing-frame 
tenders,  in  ten  as  doffers,  in  nine  as  drawing-frame  tenders,  in 

1  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  pp.  51,  52. 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  IN  MANUAL  WORK  421 

nine  as  twisters,  in  nine  as  winders,  in  eight  as  reelers,  and  in 
five  as  carders.  All  other  occupations  are  represented  by  less 
than  five  instances.  In  the  largest  establishment  represented 
in  this  industry,  a  New  Hampshire  mill,  there  are  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  suboccupations  given,  in  but  thirty-one  of  which 
women  are  employed.  From  this  array  of  evidence  one  feels 
almost  justified  in  acknowledging  the  truth  of  the  strong  state- 
ment with  which  Mrs.  Webb  enforces  the  more  cautious  con- 
clusion of  her  husband. 

We  are  so  accustomed  in  the  middle  class  to  see  men  and  women 
engaged  in  identical  work,  as  teachers,  journalists,  authors,  painters, 
sculptors,  comedians,  singers,  musicians,  medical  practitioners,  clerks, 
or  what  not,  that  we  almost  inevitably  assume  the  same  state  of 
things  to  exist  in  manual  labor  and  manufacturing  industry.  But 
this  is  very  far  from  being  the  case.  To  begin  with,  in  over  nine 
tenths  of  the  industrial  field  there  is  no  such  thing  as  competition 
between  men  and  women  :  the  men  do  one  thing  and  the  women  do 
another.  .  .  .  And  even  in  those  industries  which  employ  both  men 
and  women  we  find  them  sharply  divided  in  different  departments, 
working  at  different  processes,  and  performing  different  operations.1 

VI 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  summarize  the  conclusions  to  be 
derived  from  such  a  variety  of  considerations  and  such  a  multi- 
plicity of  facts,  but  perhaps  it  may  be  -done  in  some  such 
manner  as  the  following. 

i.  In  the  majority  of  trades  and  industrial  callings  men  and 
women  do  not  compete  for  the  same  work  to  any  considerable 
extent.  Exceptions  to  this  rule  are  found  in  the  textile  indus- 
tries, in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco  and  of  boots  and  shoes, 
and  in  the  dry-goods  trade.  In  all  of  these  industries  men  and 
women  are  usually  found  performing  the  same  work,  though 
their  competition  is  often  limited  to  a  few  branches  of  the 
industry.  Where  they  do  not  perform  the  same  work  it  is 
impossible  to  say  how  far  differences  in  remuneration  are  due 
to  sex  and  how  far  to  inequality  of  work. 

1  Problems  of  Modern  Industry,  p.  94. 


422 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


2.  In  the  leading  occupations  in  which  women  do  compete 
with  men  for  the  same  work  payment  by  piece  rates  seems  to 
be  the  rule.    In  such  cases  the  earnings  of  women  are  more 
often  equal  to  those  of  men  than  where  time  wages  are  paid. 
Usually,  however,  women  are  inferior  to  men  in  the  quantity 
produced. 

3.  In  occupations  where  time  wages  prevail  and  men  and 
women  perform  the  same  work  the  lower  wages  of  women  can 
in  many  instances  be  explained  by  a  shorter  working  day  for 
the  women  than  for  the  men  and  by  the  fact  that  the  com- 
petition takes   place  in  the  lower  grades  of   efficiency.    The 
women    workers    naturally  'tend    toward    these    grades,   while 
the  higher  grades  are  filled  mainly  by  men.    In  such  cases  the 
women  often  earn  wages  as  high  as  or  even  higher  than  the 
men  do  in  these  lower  grades,  but  they  seldom  earn  as  much  as 
men  where  the  competition  takes  place  in  the  higher  grades. 

4.  Women's  natural  disadvantage,  due  to  their  lower  produc- 
tivity, is  increased  by  the  force  of  custom.    Where  competitive 
rates  of  wages  prevail,  as  in  the  textile  industries  of  the  South, 
women's  wages  are  often  equal  to  those  of  men. 

5.  In  spite  of  the  lower  productivity  of  women  there  seems 
to  be  a  tendency  to  increase  their  employment  in  occupations 
in  which  they  have  been  at  work,  as  well  as  to  employ  them  in 
new  fields  of  industry.    This  is  partly  due  to  woman's  greater 
tractability.    It  may  also  happen  that  the  wages  of  women  are 
lower,  when  compared  with  those  of  men,  than  is  their  produc- 
tivity.   Women's  lower  standard  of  living,  their  partial  depend- 
ence on  other  means  of  support,  and  their  lack  of  combination 
prevent  them  from  obtaining  their  true  economic  wages. 

Finally,  it  must  be  repeated  that  these  conclusions  apply 
only  to  manual  work.  Doubtless  they  are  in  a  degree  appli- 
cable also  to  the  higher  callings  ;  but  here  woman's  inferior.ijty 
is  usually  less,  and  the  influence  of  custom,  of  the  standard 
of  living,  and  of  the  irregular  and  temporary  character  of  her 
employment  is  much  greater.  ^  R  HAMMOND_ 


XIX 

EMPLOYMENT   OF  GIRLS   IN   THE  TEXTILE 
INDUSTRIES   OF   PENNSYLVANIA1 

Pennsylvania,  if  classified  according  to  the  amount  of  power 
used  in  manufacturing,  ranks  first  among  the  states  of  the  Union. 
In  the  decade  1890  to  1900  the  increase  in  the  value  of  its  prod- 
ucts was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  state.  There  is  an  aggre- 
gate wealth  in  its  banks  of  over  $150,000,000,  which  is  over 
$500  per  capita  of  the  depositors,  while  in  its  building  and  loan 
associations  there  is  an  aggregate  assessment  of  over  $  1 1 2,000,000. 
The  capital  invested  in  instruments  of  production  and  real  estate 
devoted  to  productive  industry  amounts  to  over  a  billion  and  a 
half  dollars,  and  the  net  value  of  products  of  its  mills  and  factories 
in  1900  was  over  a  billion  dollars,  or  nearly  $175  per  capita 
of  population.  In  the  half  century  from  1850  to  1900  the  gross 
per  capita  value  of  the  products  increased  from  $67.07  to  $291.19. 
All  this  proves,  if  proof  is  needed,  that  the  state  of  Pennsylvania 
is  rich,  and  is  under  no  necessity  of  enlisting  in  its  industrial  army 
thousands  of  young  girls  whose  physical  vigor  and  intellectual 
power  are  impaired  by  continuous  and  arduous  labor. 

The  labor  needed  in  our  factories  and  workshops  to  produce 
articles  of  social  utility,  whose  net  value  is  over  one  billion  dollars, 
amounts  to  over  800,000  hands,  of  whom  188,578  are  females; 
and  of  the  female  employees,  17,286  are  girls  under  sixteen 
years  of  age.  Many  of  these  children  are  employed  in  stores  as 
"cash  girls,"  but  the  vast  majority  of  them  are  employees  in  mills 
and  factories,  where  tiny  fingers  labor  for  ten  hours  each  day  for 
three  hundred  days  in  the  year.  The  industries  in  which  most 

1  From  the  Annals,  American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  Vol.  XXIII,  1904, 
pp.  434-444.  Consult  the  same  for  other  articles  on  child  labor;  also  bulletins  of 
the  National  Child  Labor  Committee,  New  York,  and  Florence  Kelley,  "  A  Boy 
Destroying  Trade,"  Charities,  Vol.  XIII,  1903,  pp.  15-19. 

423 


424        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  them  are  employed  are  silk  throwing,  hosiery  and  underwear, 
cigars  and  sweet  stuffs,  umbrellas  and  parasols,  paper  bags  and 
boxes,  and  so  forth.  These  industries,  in  which  female  child  labor 
forms  so  important  a  part  of  the  employees,  are  not  equally  dis- 
tributed over  the  state.  They  are  found  for  the  greater  part 
in  the  eastern  portion.  Pennsylvania  has  sixty-seven  counties, 
but  in  eighteen  of  them,  all  of  which  are  east  of  Harrisburg, 
which  contain  52.87  per  cent  of  the  female  population  of  the 
state,  we  find  87.07  per  cent  of  all  girls  employed  under  sixteen 
years  of  age.  The  six  counties  in  which  female  child  labor  most 
prevails  are  Berks,  Lackawanna,  Lancaster,  Lehigh,  Luzerne, 
and  Philadelphia.  Most  of  the  children  employed  in  these  coun- 
ties are  found  in  factories  and  mills  located  in  large  cities  such 
as  Reading,  Scranton,  Lancaster,  Allentown,  Wilkesbarre,  and 
Philadelphia.  Of  all  the  girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age  em- 
ployed in  the  state  69.81  per  cent  are  in  the  above  six  counties, 
which  contain  only  34.98  per  cent  of  the  female  population  of 
the  state. 

There  are  in  Pennsylvania  eighteen  cities  with  over  25,000 
population.  By  a  comparison  of  the  returns  from  the  factory 
inspectors  and  the  returns  from  the  superintendent  of  public 
instruction  of  the  state  we  are  able  to  determine  approximately 
the  percentages  of  female  children  of  the  age  group  13-16  years 
employed  in  these  cities.  The  table  on  the  opposite  page  gives 
the  percentages. 

York  and  Easton,  together  with  the  cities  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  paragraph,  stand  forth  conspicuously  in  this  list  as 
centers  where  young  girls  are  largely  employed.  The  second 
column  in  the  table  gives  the  percentages  of  the  native-born 
children  of  foreign-born  parents,  and  the  third  column  gives  the 
percentages  of  the  foreign-born  element  of  the  population  of  these 
cities.  The  table  shows  that  cities  such  as  MacKeesport,  Johns- 
town, Erie,  Pittsburg,  and  Allegheny,  which  have  the  highest 
percentages  in  the  second  and  third  columns,  have  the  lowest  per- 
centages of  girls  under  sixteen  years  employed ;  while  the  cities  in 
which  the  highest  percentages  of  this  class  of  employees  are  found 
—  with  the  exception  of  Scranton  and  Wilkesbarre  —  have  the 


GIRLS  IN  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  425 


Percentage  of  Girls 
of  Age  Group  13-16 
Years  Employed 

Percentage  of 
Population  having 
Foreign  Parents 

Percentage  of 
Population 
Foreign  born 

In  the  state           

Q.I  6 

22.7 

1(6 

7.82 

•77.4 

27.2 

Allentown         

41.67 

14.1 

8.4 

AltOOna  

IO.17 

I7.Q 

8.4 

Chester  

IQ.28 

2S.4 

I4.Q 

Easton    ........ 

24.46 

I7.Q 

8.4 

Erie    

7.80 

40.9 

22.6 

16.09 

IO.I 

4-Q 

Johnstown   

I.OO 

26.7 

2O.7 

Lancaster    

40.4.0 

l8.9 

8.4 

MacKeesport   

0.59 

286 

32-9 

22.7 

27-3 
188 

Philadelphia     

IQ.  SI 

72.O 

22.8 

Pittsburg      

4-12 

-17.7 

26.7 

76.O2 

12.6 

7.c 

Scranton 

12  Q  S 

44  7 

28  4 

Wilkesbarre     
Williamsport    
York 

26.03 
6.16 
•jj  44 

40.0 
194 
Q  2 

23-3 

7-7 

7.8 

Jl-tt 

lowest  percentages  of  foreign-born  inhabitants  or  descendants  of 
foreign-born  parents.  This  suggests  that  entrepreneurs  in  mills 
and  factories  do  not  wholly  draw  their  supply  of  child  labor 
from  among  the  children  of  the  foreign-born  element.  What- 
ever degeneracy  is  associated  with  the  labor  of  girls  of  tender 
years  in  factories,  it  prevails  among  the  children  of  the  native- 
born  as  well  as  among  those  of  the  foreign-born  parents  in 
the  state. 

Let  us  now  consider  three  industries  of  the  state,  namely,  silk 
throwing,  hosiery,  and  worsted  mills.  The  following  table  gives 
us  the  percentages  of  female  hands  employed  in  them. 


Percentage 
of  Female 
Employees 

Percentage  of 
All  Employees 
under  16  Years 

Percentage  of 
All  Employees 
under  21  Years 

Percentage  of 
Female  Em- 
ployees under 
16  Years 

Percentage  of 
Females  among 
All  Employees 
under  2  1  Years 

Silk   .... 
Hosiery  .     .     . 
Worsted  Mills 

70.65 

79-5° 

57-40 

2O.2O 
18.92 
17.83 

5°-97 
52.19 
31.90 

22.15 
19.77 
23.04 

77-49 
83.10 

73-75 

426         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

This  table  shows  that  the  vast  majority  of  employees  in  these 
industries  is  female,  and  that  of  this  majority  an  average  of  over 
22  per  cent  is  under  sixteen  years  of  age.  Of  both  male  and 
female  employees  nearly  20  per  cent  are  under  sixteen  years,  while 
"an  average  of  nearly  50  per  cent  of  the  hands  is  composed  of 
minors.  These  percentages,  which  show  how  prevalent  female 
labor  is  in  these  industries,  are  still  further  corroborated  by 
studying  them  in  distinct  localities.  Take  the  three  industries  of 
silk  throwing,  hosiery,  and  underwear  mills  in  special  localities, 
and  the  following  table  gives  the  percentages  of  female  labor  in 
them. 


Percentage 
of  Female 
Employees 

Percentage 
of  All  Em- 
ployees 
under 
16  Years 

Percentage 
of  All  Em- 
ployees 
under 
21  Years 

Percentage 
of  All 
Females 
under 
1  6  Years 

Percentage  of 
Girls  among 
All  Employees 
under 
16  Years 

Silk 

In  Philadelphia      .     .     . 
Outside  Philadelphia  .     . 

77.07 
77.68 

6.10 
23.90 

25.08 
52.84 

5.28 
25.00 

66.66 

77.69 

Hosiery 

In  Philadelphia      .     .     . 
Outside  Philadelphia.     . 

77.09 
76.98 

26.00 

24.42 

56.41 
48.73 

26.82 

27-37 

79-53 
86.25 

Underwear 

In  Philadelphia      .     .     . 
Outside  Philadelphia.     . 

87.19 
84.60 

7-68 
9-15 

27.72 
36.60 

7.6S 

7-53 

62.50 
69.65 

This  table  shows  that  among  the  silk  workers  in  Philadelphia 
we  do  not  find  nearly  so  many  minors  and  young  girls  under  six- 
teen years  employed  as  in  this  industry  outside  that  city.  In  the 
hosiery  mills  the  employment  of  these  classes  is  as  great  as  in 
territories  outside  Philadelphia,  while  in  the  underwear  factories 
the  employment  of  minors  and  young  girls  is  not  so  prevalent 
as  in  the  other  two  industries. 

A  study  of  the  factories  and  mills  in  five  of  the  cities  where 
female  labor  most  prevails  gives  us  the  table  on  the  following 
page  as  to  the  percentages  of  minors  employed  and  the  per- 
centages of  girls  under  sixteen  years  employed. 


GIRLS  IN  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  427 


Percentage  of 
Employees  under 
21  Years 

Percentage  of  Girls 
under  16  Years 
Employed 

Lancaster       ... 

48  24 

1878 

Reading     

42.26 

2O  1Q 

CI.-IQ 

•w»jy 

23  16 

64.  CO 

22  48 

Scranton    

c  C.QC 

1O  8? 

Let  us  now  consider  the  wages  of  these  classes  of  our  em- 
ployees. In  the  census  returns  of  1900  we  have  data  given  of 
three  industries  —  silk,  hosiery,  and  worsted  goods  —  whereby 
we  may  compute  the  average  annual  wage  of  females.  It  is  as 
follows  : 


. 

Average  per 
Annum 

Average  per 
Working  Day 

^Vomen  16  years  and  over  (silk) 

$2O4  11 

68  cents 

Girls  under  16  years  (silk)                .     . 

1  28  oc 

A1          l 

^Vomen  16  years  and  over  (hosiery)  . 

c«0.y3 

26c  c8 

4J 

8c       ' 

Girls  under  16  years  (hosiery)    . 

""OO0 
141  6l 

°J 

47          ' 

Women  16  years  and  over  (worsted  goods)      .     .     . 
Girls  under  16  years  (worsted  goods) 

290.61 

174  ^4 

97       ' 
<;8      ' 

ju 

In  "  Industrial  Statistics  "  of  our  state  the  daily  wage  for  all 
employees  in  silk  throwing,  hosiery,  and  worsted  yarns  is  84  cents, 
95  cents,  and  $i,  respectively,  which  differ  from  the  figures 
given  by  the  census  of  1900,  which  are  74  cents,  90  cents,  and 
$1.09,  respectively.  The  average  daily  wages  of  children  under 
sixteen  years  employed  in  silk,  hosiery,  and  underwear  in  the  state 
is  43  cents,  46  cents,  and  47  cents,  respectively.  Averages,  how- 
ever, do  not  give  us  the  true  wages  paid  in  factories  which  are 
located  in  cities  and  towns  where  an  abundant  supply  of  cheap 
labor  is  near  at  hand.  In  factories  located  in  towns  and  cities  in 
the  anthracite  regions  young  girls  work  for  ten  hours  each  day, 
or  sixty  hours  a  week,  for  from  $1.50  to  $2  a  week.  A  girl 
who  earns  $3  a  week  is  considered  fortunate,  while  forewomen 
who  have  charge  of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  girls  get  only  $5 
a  week.  In  factories  located  in  small  towns  the  average  daily 


428         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

wage  of  females  over  sixteen  years,  as  well  as  that  of  girls 
under  sixteen  years,  is  fully  25  per  cent  lower  than  that  of  the 
general  averages  based  on  the  census  returns.  Of  all  industries 
employing  young  girls  that  of  silk  throwing  pays  the  lowest 
wages,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  "  of  the  several  branches 
of  the  industry  the  manufacture  of  silk  stood  first  in  the  value 
of  products  in  1900."  Pennsylvania,  according  to  the  last  census, 
ranks  second  in  the  industry  among  the  states  of  the  Union. 

In  the  annual  report  of  the  factory  inspectors  for  1902  the 
chief  of  inspectors  says  concerning  child  labor  :  "The  first  year's 
report  of  the  Department  in  1890  showed  that  over'io  per  cent 
of  the  employees  were  children  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and 
sixteen  years.  This  year's  report  shows  that  less  than  $  per  cent 
were  employed  between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  sixteen  years." 
In  the  census  of  1890  only  3.87  per  cent  of  all  employees  in  the 
state  were  children  under  sixteen  years,  while  in  1900  the  per- 
centage was  4.5 1.  During  the  decade,  1 890  to  1900,  the  increase 
in  the  employment  of  children  under  sixteen  years  was  47.80  per 
cent,  while  the  percentage  increase  of  school  children  in  the 
decade  was  15.3.  During  the  same  decade  the  number  of  female 
employees  increased  44.87  per  cent,  while  the  female  population 
of  the  state  increased  19.5  per  cent.  The  returns  of  the  census 
for  1870,  1880,  1890,  and  1900  showed  that  the  percentages  of 
children  employed  under  sixteen  years,  as  compared  with  all 
employees  engaged  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing  pursuits  in 
Pennsylvania,  were  6.02,  7.66,  3.87,  and  4.51,  respectively.  The 
percentage  in  1902  as  given  in  the  factory  inspector's  report  was 
4.51.  With  these  figures  before  us  it  is  hard  to  see  how  the 
chief  of  the  factory  inspectors  could  make  the  above  statement. 
In  the  last  generation  the  percentage  increase  of  female  employees 
in  the  state  was  about  three  times  the  percentage  increase  of  our 
population.  Since  1870  many  legislatures  have  attempted  to 
regulate  child  labor  in  the  state,  but  the  number  employed  has 
kept  pace  with  the  percentage  increase  of  our  population.  In 
1890  the  average  wage  of  children  under  sixteen  years  was  50.6 
cents  a  day;  in  1900  it  was  53  cents,  an  increase  of  5.5  per  cent. 
The  average  wage  of  females  over  sixteen  years  in  1890  was  89 


GIRLS  IN  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  429 

cents  a  day ;  in  1900  it  was  87  cents,  a  reduction  of  2.28  per  cent. 
The  small  percentage  of  children  under  sixteen  years  employed 
in  Pennsylvania  is  no  guarantee  that  child  labor  is  less  prevalent 
here  than  in  southern  states,  to  which  public  attention  has  been 
recently  called.  Our  state  has  many  industries  in  which  few 
children  are  employed,  such  as  iron  and  steel,  locomotive  and 
car  building,  foundries  and  electric  apparatus.  Hence,  to  give 
the  percentage  of  children  under  sixteen  years  employed  in  all 
industries  of  the  commonwealth  may  appear  favorable  to  Penn- 
sylvania (4.51  percent)  as  compared  with  North  Carolina  (14.70 
per  cent),  but  the  method  of  comparison  is  misleading  as  to  the 
prevalence  of  child  labor  in  both  states.  North  Carolina  has  no 
large  industries  in  which  few  children  are  employed.  If  a  just 
comparison  between  north  and  south  is  made,  the  nature  of  the 
industries  in  the  respective  states  should  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration. Rev.  E.  G.  Gardner  wrote  in  the  fall  of  1902  that  of 
45,044  operatives  in  textile  industries  in  North  Carolina,  7996 
(17.7  per  cent)  were  under  fourteen  years  of  age  and  their  daily 
average  wage  was  29  cents.  In  the  textile  industries  specified 
in  the  table  on  page  426  there  is  an  average  of  nearly  22  per 
cent  of  the  employees  under  sixteen  years  of  age  whose  average 
net  wage,  outside  Philadelphia,  is  not  40  cents  a  day.  In  North 
Carolina  37.8  per  cent  of  the  population  are  employed  in  gainful 
occupations  and  in  Pennsylvania  38.8  per  cent ;  but  in  the  former 
state  64.1  per  cent  of  these  are  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
and  12.7  per  cent  only  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  work, 
while  in  Pennsylvania  only  14  per  cent  of  all  employees  are  in 
the  former  class  of  work,  but  there  are  40.1  per  cent  in  the 
latter.  A  just  comparison  of  female  and  child  labor  in  both 
states  can  be  made  only  when  we  find  what  percentages  of 
females  of  the  age  group  13-23  years  and  of  children  of  the  age 
group  13-16  years  are  employed  in  each.  By  this  method  of 
comparison  we  find  that  16.3  per  cent  of  females  of  the  age  group 
13-23  years  are  employed  in  Pennsylvania  and  6.6  per  cent  in 
North  Carolina,  but  the  percentage  of  children  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  employed  in  both  states  is  about  the  same,  —  in 
Pennsylvania  20.2  and  in  North  Carolina  20.4.  While  we  censure 


430        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  states  of  the  South  for  their  exploitation  of  child  labor,  we 
should  not  lose  sight  of  this  evil  in  Pennsylvania  because  of  the 
specious  argument  that  only  4.5  i  per  cent  of  the  total  employees 
are  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age. 

A  study  of  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania  relative  to  child  labor 
reveals  a  mass  of  complicated,  contradictory,  and  confusing  stat- 
utes. Legislators,  in  their  anxiety  to  do  something,  have  dis- 
regarded the  labors  of  their  predecessors.  They  pass  laws  wholly 
oblivious  of  the  importance  of  historical  continuity,  and  the  result 
is  a  series  of  incongruous  and  disconnected  statutes  regulating 
the  labor  of  the  wards  of  the  state.  But  however  bungling  the 
work  of  the  legislators  is,  the  student  is  hardly  prepared  to  find 
Pennsylvania  more  indifferent  than  Russia  to  the  interests  of  its 
children  employed  in  factories.  England,  since  the  passage  of 
the  Ashley  Act  in  1833,  nas  prohibited  the  employment  at  night 
of  persons  under  eighteen  years.  Every  other  European  country 
of  any  industrial  importance  has  followed  England's  example. 
Even  Austria  and  Russia,  whence  come  the  Slavs,  whose  manner 
of  life  and  customs  we  so  frequently  condemn,  forbid  the  labor  of 
young  persons  at  night.  But  these  people  coming  to  Pennsyl- 
vania find  young  girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age  employed  at  night 
in  our  mills.  Many  deem  it  cruel  to  employ  these  young  persons 
by  day  for  ten*  hours  in  stifling  mills,  but  every  humane  per- 
son considers  it  barbarous  to  employ  them  at  night.  This  is  a 
reproach  to  a  state  as  rich  as  ours,  and,  although  the  wrong  was 
amply  exposed  before  the  Coal  Strike  Commission,  there  were 
no  legislators  found  in  the  last  legislature  chivalrous  enough  to 
champion  enthusiastically  the  cause  of  the  coming  mothers  of 
our  state. 

The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  in  com- 
menting on  child  labor  in  the  South,  said :  "  When  these 
immature  individuals  are  kept  at  constant  work  for  long  hours 
the  outlook  for  their  future  can  be  imagined.  It  is  bad  policy 
for  a  state  to  encourage  the  increase  of  degeneracy  in  this  way, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  questions  of  humanity  involved.  Whatever 
may  be  thought  of  some  of  the  other  demands  of  the  labor 
agitation  of  the  day,  that  of  the  abolition  of  child  labor,  as  it 


GIRLS  IN  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  431 

exists  in  some  of  the  southern  factories,  can  be  indorsed  by  our 
profession,  and  should  be  by  the  public  generally."  Suppose  the 
medical  profession  of  Pennsylvania,  numbering  over  10,000  per- 
sons, were  to  direct  its  attention  to  the  17,286  girls  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  employed  in  our  state,  would  not  their  professional 
knowledge  of  the  development  of  the  female  organism  from  the 
ages  of  thirteen  to  sixteen  years  urge  them  to  cooperate  in  the 
attempt  to  abolish  this  evil  ?  From  the  days  of  Quetelet  down 
to  the  present  accurate  measurements  have  been  taken  of  the 
bodily  growth  of  young  girls  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  years,  and 
(the  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  at  no  period  of  their  life  do  they 
grow  so  rapidly  as  then.  The  female,  during  these  years,  develops 
more  rapidly  than  the  male,  so  that  the  average  girl  of  sixteen 
years  has  reached  a  stage  in  physical  development  which  boys 
do  not  attain  until  two  or  three  years  later.  All  parents  who  duly 
watch  over  their  children  know  that  the  factory  and  the  mill  are 
not  proper  places  for  girls  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age. 
From  the  standpoint  of  economics  this  employment  of  young 
girls  cannot  be  justified.  The  more  wealth  produced,  the  more 
>we  have  for  distribution.  The  larger  the  number  of  persons 
engaged  in  gainful  occupations  the  better.  But  alongside  these 
self-evident  truths  we  must  place  another,  namely,  that  if  the 
health  of  our  industrial  life  is  to  be  preserved,  the  various  indus- 
tries of  the  state  must  be  self-supporting.  Those  which  flourish 
by  the  labor  of  women  and  children  are  not  self-supporting,  for 
they  consume  an  amount  of  energy  which  they  do  not  replace. 
They  draw  upon  the  capital  stock  of  the  nation's  vital  force  and 
care  little  or  nothing  about  the  degeneracy  they  effect.  When 
the  silk  throwers  of  England  were  fighting  for  a  living  wage,  it 
was  asked,  "  What  is  a  fair  day's  wage  ? "  and  the  reply  was, 
"The  due  reward  for  our  labor  may  be  summed  up  in  these 
words :  shelter,  food,  and  raiment  both  for  ourselves,  our  wives, 
#nd  our  children."  Suppose  we  apply  that  rule  to  the  textile 
industries  of  Pennsylvania.  Is  40  cents  a  day  sufficient  to  give 
proper  food,  raiment,  and  shelter  to  a  child  of  from  thirteen  to'six- 
teen  years  of  age  ?  Can  a  young  lady  keep  herself  in  food,  clothes, 
and  room  on  85  cents  a  day  ?  The  state  spent  on  its  youths  in 


432 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


the  Huntingdon  Reformatory  in  the  year  1901  an  average  of 
$248.90  per  capita,  or  $4.79  per  week,  a  sum  twice  as  large 
as  that  which  our  young  girls  earn  in  our  mills  and  factories. 
The  state  has  erected  a  comfortable  home  for  its  convicts  and 
spends  annually  $199.95  per  capita  on  food,  clothing,  etc.;  this 
is  $3.84  a  week,  or  $1.16  less  than  the  average  weekly  wage  of 
young  women  over  sixteen  years  employed  in  the  mills,  a  differ- 
ence that  is  barely  sufficient  to  cover  the  item  of  rent.  The  tex- 
tile industries  are  not  self-supporting.  We  are  safe  in  saying  that 
50  per  cent  of  the  employees  in  these  industries  expend  an  amount 
of  energy  which  their  wages  do  not  replace.  The  majority  of 
the  women  and  girls  who  labor  in  them  cannot  provide  for  their 
wants  with  the  wages  they  earn  ;  they  must  either  go  short  or 
else  the  deficiency  must  be  supplied  from  wages  earned  in  other 
industries. 

But  that  is  not  all.  The  textile  industries  drain  the  energy  of 
successive  generations  of  youths  and  care  nothing  whence  they 
come  or  whither  they  go.  Over  50  per  cent  of  the  employees 
are  minors.  When  these  come  to  their  majority  they  pass  out  of 
the  industry  and  their  place  is  supplied  by  successive  relays  of 
youths  under  sixteen  years.  Every  boy  or  girl  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen has  cost  somebody  from  $500  to  $600;  however,  the  textile  in- 
dustries have  not  paid  the  bill.  Young  men  are  constantly  forced 
out  of  these  industries  when  they  demand  wages  that  will  enable 
them  to  establish  a  home  and  raise  a  family,  and  young  women 
soon  reach  the  maximum  wage,  and  however  long  they  remain 
in  the  factory,  they  have  no  hope  of  better  wages.  Young  men 
who  leave  the  industry  face  the  world  at  a  great  disadvantage, 
and  when  their  industrial  capacity  diminishes  and  ailments  come 
upon  them  which  finally  end  in  death,  the  industries  in  which  they 
spent  their  youth  bear  no  part  of  the  burdens  which  fall  upon 
the  community.  If  these  industries  existed  in  a  state  where  the 
institution  of  slavery  prevailed,  they  would  be  obliged  to  raise : 
boys  and  girls  for  the  mills,  and  they  would  also  be  compelled 
to  provide  for  them  when  ailments,  old  age,  and  death  came  upon 
them.  But  here  in  Pennsylvania  the  textile  industries  flourish1 
by  absorbing  a  supply  of  energy  that  has  cost  them  nothing. 


GIRLS  IN  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA   433 

The  children  and  youths  are  drained  of  their  strength  for  a  decade 
and  then  pushed  out  into  the  world.  These  industries  hold  the 
same  advantageous  position  as  compared  with  the  self-supporting 
industries  that  they  would  if  they  received  a  bounty  or  subsidy 
from  the  government.  They  flourish  by  freely  drawing  upon  the 
capital  stock  of  the  nation,  and,  being  under  no  social  pressure 
to  maintain  a  rate  of  wages  that  will  keep  their  employees  day 
by  day  in  unimpaired  health  and  vigor,  they  wholly  lose  sight  of 
the  larger  obligation  to  maintain  each  generation  unimpaired  in 
quantity  and  quality. 

Society  may  ask  for  cheap  products  from  the  textile  industries, 
but  goods  that  have  in  them  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  future 
mothers  of  the  toiling  masses  are  not  cheap.  The  price  paid  is 
degeneracy.  Insufficient  wages  mean  insufficient  food,  liability 
to  diseases,  industrial  inefficiency,  scanty  clothing,  cramped  dwell- 
ings, and  a  vitiated  atmosphere.  These  women  and  young  girls, 
who  under  financial  pressure  yield  the  strength  so  much  needed 
in  the  building  up  of  their  frames,  pay  the  penalty  in  headaches, 
toothaches,  dyspepsia,  and  sores,  dragging  pains  and  chronic 
anaemia.  Do  the  medical  profession  find  among  these  young 
mill  hands  that  state  of  health  which  is  normal  among  the  young 
daughters  of  the  professional  classes?  Communities  where  textile 
industries  flourish  are  the  scenes  of  degeneracy,  and  upon  each 
generation  rests  a  curse.  The  individuals  who  are  exploited 
depart  farther  and  farther  from  the  higher  type  of  womanhood 
which  American  civilization  has  held  before  the  world. 

The  social  interest  of  our  state  demands  that  the  textile  indus- 
tries be  made  self-supporting.  It  cannot  be  done  by  collective 
bargain,  for  the  youths,  under  existing  conditions,  cannot  be 
organized  so  efficiently  as  to  effect  this.  The  better  way  is  to 
check  the  excessive  use  of  child  labor  by  raising  the  age  at  which 
boys  and  girls  can  be  employed.  The  International  Socialist  and 
Trade  Union  Congress  in  1896  demanded  that  the  age  of  boys 
and  girls  beginning  to  work  should  be  raised  to  sixteen  years. 
This  certainly  should  be  done  in  the  case  of  our  girls,  and  the 
medical  profession,  because  of  its  greater  knowledge  of  the  phys- 
ical organism,  should  advocate  such  legislation.  Pennsylvania, 


434 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


whose  productive  wealth  annually  amounts  to  over  two  billions 
of  dollars,  should  rise  to  the  degree  of  intelligence  which  regards 
the  boys  and  girls  not  as  independent  wealth  producers  who 
earn  their  wages  from  day  to  day,  but  as  the  future  citizens  and 
parents  of  our  commonwealth,  for  whom,  up  to  their  majority, 
proper  conditions  of  growth  and  education  should  be  secured. 
""The  well-being  of  society  demands  that  all  conditions  of  employ- 
ment inconsistent  with  the  maintenance  of  the  employees  in  a 
state  of  efficiency  as  producers  should  be  eliminated.  Nothing 
imperils  this  imperative  of  modern  civilization  so  much  as  per- 
mitting young  girls  to  be  employed  for  bare  subsistence  at  an 
age  when  nature  taxes  their  system  to  the  limit  of  profitable 
endurance.  Such  a  custom  works  deterioration  both  in  the 
physical  and  intellectual  spheres,  and  hinders  the  continuous 
existence,  generation  after  generation,  of  healthy  and  efficient 

descendants. 

PETER  ROBERTS. 

MAHANOY  CITY,  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XX 

THE  PRINTER'S   HEALTH1 

The  number  of  deaths  in  its  membership  during  the  five  years 
and  eleven  months  from  June  30,  1897,  to  May  31,  1903,  inclu- 
sive, on  which  benefits  were  paid  by  the  International  Typograph- 
ical Union  of  North  America,  was  2994.  Of  this  total  1323,  or 
about  45  per  cent;  were  from  respiratory  diseases,  that  is,  pul- 
monary phthisis,  asthma,  bronchitis,  pneumonia,  diphtheria,  pleu- 
risy, and  pulmonary  congestion.  Though  the  official  mortuary 
reports  for  the  period  named  show  that  some  of  the  evils  of  our 
occupation  hasten  death  through  heart  and  nerve  ailments  espe- 
cially, it  is  the  startling  figures  under  this  heading  of  respiratory 
diseases  that  must  first  challenge  investigation  when  we  set  out 
to  reduce  our  death  rate. 

The  most  striking  facts  seen  are  the  number  of  deaths  of 
young  men  and  the  number  of  deaths  from  consumption.  Of 
the  1323  deaths  from  respiratory  ailments  490,  or  nearly  38  per 
cent,  were  of  men  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  thirty- 
two,  inclusive.  How  many  of  the  1323  were  of  consumption? 
Deaths  from  this  disease  were  not  separately  recorded  until  the 
year  ending  May  31,  1903.  For  that  year  for  the  first  time 
the  causes  of  death  were  fully  itemized  by  the  union  secretary, 
the  method  of  classification  theretofore  being  under  a  few  general 
headings.  Of  the  476  deaths  for  the  year  191  were  from  respira- 
tory diseases.  Of  these  191,  128  were  from  " consumption"  (in 
the  words  of  the  report,  consumption  72,  pulmonary  phthisis  n, 
tuberculosis  44,  pulmonary  hemorrhage  i).  The  deaths  from 
pneumonia  were  51.  Thus  the  lung  ailments  grouped  in  com- 
mon speech  as  "  consumption"  certainly  carried  away  more  than 

1  From  the  Typographical  Journal,  Vol.  XXIII,  1903,  No.  5,  p.  425;  No.  6, 
p.  527,  condensed.  See  also  Doehring,  "  Factory  Sanitation  and  Labor  Protec- 
tion," Bulletin  No.  44,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor;  Oliver,  Dangerous  Trades,  the 
standard  authority. 

435 


436         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

27  per  cent  of  our  members  dying  in  that  year,  and  how  many 
of  the  men  dying  of  pneumonia  were  at  the  same  time  consump- 
tive statistics  cannot  reveal: 

For  the  year  ending  May  31,  1904,  the  deaths  in  the  Inter- 
national Union  from  respiratory  diseases  numbered  216  in  a  total 
of  578,  the  number  from  "consumption"  being  95  (consumption 
58,  pulmonary  phthisis  22,  tuberculosis  13,  hemorrhage  of  the 
lungs  2).  Pneumonia  carried  away  72,  bronchitis  6,  congestion 
of  the  lungs  5.  The  death  rate  for  the  year  was  12.5  per  1000. 

Some  further  light  comes  from  a  random  selection  of  three 
monthly  death  reports  in  the  Journal  and  a  noting  of  the  causes 
of  death  therein  given.  Of  the  93  deaths  from  various  diseases 
as  reported  at  the  International  Typographical  Union  offices  for 
November,  1901,  November,  1902,  and  May,  1903,  28  were 
given  by  the  local  union  physicians  as  from  tuberculosis,  phthisis, 
consumption,  and  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  and  10  of  these  28 
were  of  men  under  thirty-two  years  of  age.  Seven  of  the  93 
deaths  were  of  pneumonia.  These  figures  serve  to  confirm  the 
fact  that  the  causes  of  death  in  our  trade  are  quite  uniform  year 
by  year  in  present  circumstances,  and  that  the  proportion  of  deaths 
from  consumption  may  therefore  be  foretold  to  a  certainty  so 
long  as  circumstances  remain  as  they  are. 

The  ascertainable  statistics  hence  indicate  these  conclusions  : 

First.  In  America,  of  the  total  annual  deaths  among  union 
printers  the  proportion  dying  of  consumption  is  fully  30  per  cent. 

Second.  Of  this  30  per  cent  at  least  one  third  die  within  the 
early  period  of  life,  when  the  direct  effects  of  occupational  evils 
may  be  looked  for. 

Statistics  regarding  English  printers  tell  a  story  even  more 
alarming.  Of  799  deaths  reported  by  the  London  Society  of  Com- 
positors for  the  ten  years  1880-1889,  inclusive,  29^>  or  37  per  cent, 
were  due  to  phthisis  alone.  Besides,  bronchitis  and  asthma  were 
the  causes  of  85  deaths,  and  pneumonia  and  pleurisy  of  65  ;  that  is, 
446  of  799  deaths  occurring  from  causes  falling  under  one  general 
classification  were  largely  traceable  to  occupational  conditions. 

Of  852  deaths  occurring  in  the  Typographical  Association  of 
England  (the  union  printers  outside  London)  in  the  six  years 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  437 

1894-1899,  inclusive,  tuberculosis  carried  off  287.  While  from 
1 88 1  to  1890  the  mean  annual  death  rate  from  tuberculosis  for 
all  males  between  twenty  and  sixty-five  years  of  age  in  England 
and  Wales  was  but  1.8  per  1000,  the  rate  for  members  of  the 
Typographical  Association  in  the  six  years  noted  was  3.4,  and  for 
the  London  Society  3.9,  in  either  case  about  double  the  normal. 
Says  Dr.  Thomas  Oliver  in  Dangerous  Trades,  "  It  may  be 
taken  as  a  fact  that  printers  are  more  liable  to  tubercular  con- 
sumption than  men  engaged  in  most  other  trades." 

In  England  the  phthisis  mortality  figure  for  printers  is  326, 
while  for  agriculturists  it  is  only  102.  For  occupied  males  in 
general  the  mortality  figure  for  all  diseases  is  953  ;  for  agri- 
culturists it  is  602;  for  printers  1096.  Printers  die  off  much 
faster  than  miners,  for  whom  the  mortality  figure,  including 
accidents,  is  only  935.  In  plain  words,  the  printer  follows  an 
occupation  far  more  dangerous  to  life  than  does  the  miner. 

Middle-aged  American  printers  are  heard  commonly  to  assert 
from  their  own  observation  that  if  an  apprentice  has  a  sensitive 
throat  or  a  delicate  chest,  "  something  about  the  office  or  the 
business  "  seems  to  search  out  the  weak  spot  in  the  young  man's 
constitution,  to  plant  disease  thereat,  and  enfeeble  him  or  bring 
him  to  an  early  death.  If  he  can  weather  through  to  well  past 
thirty,  he  may  live  to  the  general  average  term  of  life.  But  for 
any  indifference  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  health  he  speedily  meets 
with  cruel  punishment.  That  40  per  cent  of  the  whole  number 
of  printers  dying  of  respiratory  diseases  should  officially  be 
reported  to  be  those  of  men  under  thirty-three  is  confirmatory 
of  this  common  nonstatistical  observation.  Printers  die  fast  and 
die  young. 

What,  it  may  be  asked,  is  this  "  something  about  the  office  or 
the  business  "  that  contributes  so  greatly  to  make  the  printer 
physically  what  he  is  ?  The  conditions  need  not  be  guessed  at ; 
they  are  determinable. 

Dr.  Stuhler  of  Berlin,  taking  his  statistics  from  the  reports 
of  sick-benefit  societies,  states  that  of  3000  printers  in  Berlin 
313,  or  about  10.4  per  cent,  were  annually  sick  from  lead  colic. 
But  it  is  possible  that  lead  colic  was  a  convenient  ailment  to 


438         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

assign  to  Berlin  printers,  perhaps  with  their  own  collusion,  espe- 
cially as  Berlin  seems  to  be  the  only  city  entering  such  disturbing 
statistics  in  the  reference  books.  Chemical  analyses  are  more 
reliable.  Stumpf  found  that  the  dust  of  printing  offices  often 
contained  as  much  as  14.43  Per  cent  °f  lead-  Faber  collected 
lead  from  printing-office  dust  as  follows  :  from  the  floor  11.51 
per  cent  ;  from  a  shelf  6.59  per  cent ;  from  behind  the  frames 
of  an  alley  4.7  per  cent.  Keygi  found  10  to  15  per  cent  of  lead 
in  the  floor  dust. 

Printers  breathe  air  not  only  heavily  laden  with  lead  dust  at 
all  times,  but  strong  with  noxious  fumes  from  drying  type  during 
and  following  distribution,  and  while  at  this  work,  as  well  as  on 
rising  in  the  morning,  some  compositors  detect  a  metallic  taste 
in  their  saliva.  Compositors  also  absorb  lead  through  the  pores 
of  their  skin,  the  hand  typesetter  from  the  separate  types  which 
are  constantly  in  his  fingers  while  at  work,  the  linotype  operator 
from  the  slugs,  which,  hot  from  the  mold  and  lead-greasy  to 
the  touch,  turn  the  hands  to  a  lamp  black  hue.  The  careless 
apprentice  who  eats  his  office  lunch  with  type  marked  fingers 
takes  lead  into  his  stomach.  .  .  .  Compositors  rarely  have  acute 
attacks  such  as  painter's  colic,  in  which  convulsions  may  occur. 
The  form  from  which  they  suffer,  often  unconsciously,  is  chronic 
plumbism.  .  .  .  But  while  a  risk  of  plumbism  is  unavoidable, 
medical  men  say  it  seems  never  to  affect  many  individuals  in  the 
trade,  their  constitutional  powers  of  resistance  enabling  them  to 
escape  the  poison  or  to  throw  off  its  effects  easily. 

A  fact  next  to  be  noted  is  both  a  consequence  and  a  cause. 
Printers  have  a  somewhat  uniform  physical  development.  The 
youthful  typesetter  may  take  on  length,  but  he  commonly  lacks 
breadth;  he  fails  to  develop  the  blacksmith's  arms  or  the  sailor's 
shoulders.  Rarely  is  his  appearance  that  of  the  athlete.  To 
acquire  rounded  biceps,  hard  leg  muscles,  or  even  a  sun-browned 
face  he  must  take  much  open-air  exercise.  But  this  he  seldom  does 
systematically.  Not  one  youth  in  many  attains  his  full  natural 
growth  in  a  printing  office,  and  not  one- journeyman  in  many  retains 
his  full  physical  powers  to  a  ripe  old  age  without  a  break.  For 
this,  of  course,  there  are  causes  in  addition  to  lead  poisoning. 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  439 

Typesetting  is  exhausting  work.  Standing  hour  by  hour  brings 
on  backache,  and  in  some  men  varicose  veins  and  swollen  feet. 
Sitting  on  the  high  printing-office  stool  doubles  up  the  hand 
typesetter,  constraining  his  arm  motions  and  interfering  with  his 
digestion.  The  linotype  operator  has  trials  more  severe.  His 
stool  being  low,  his  legs  are  thrown  into  cramped  positions.  From 
the  pot  of  molten  type  metal  under  his  machine  come  a  trying 
heat  and  offensive  gases.  He  must  watch  the  delicate  mechanism 
of  his  iron  rival  lest  it  go  wrong.  The  electric  light  thrown  on 
his  copy  often  sharply  conflicts  with  the  daylight.  His  keyboard 
work  with  wrist  and  fingers  and  his  handling  of  hot  slugs  result 
at  times  in  a  numbness  that  threatens  scrivener's  palsy.  Either 
as  typesetter  or  linotype  operator  the  compositor's  brain  is  active 
every  moment  during  the  workday.  Composition  can  never  be 
mechanical.  Attention  must  be  given  to  deciphering  the  copy, 
to  spelling,  capitalizing,  punctuating,  office  style,  and  correcting 
the  lines  as  composed.  Each  of  these  distinct  mental  acts  helps 
to  drain  the  bodily  forces.  The  work  as  a  whole  is  tedious  and 
monotonous.  As  the  brain  becomes  fatigued  its  cells  shrink. 
With  every  type  a  man  sets  there  is  a  touch  of  wear  on  the 
cerebral  tissue  itself,  only  to  be  repaired  by  the  restorative  oper- 
ations of  nature,  —  food,  rest,  and  sleep. 

The  average  printer,  consequently,  is  not  robustly  developed ; 
he  is  wan  from  plumbism  and  mentally  and  physically  worn 
through  the  nature  of  his  occupation  as  it  is  to-day  pursued.  It 
is  this  overtaxed  state  of  mind  and  body,  the  effect  of  circum- 
stances in  the  business  which  call  for  a  reduced  draft  upon  his 
powers,  that  may  in  turn  cause  the  printer's  general  health 
quickly  to  succumb  under  other  office  conditions  quite  common 
but  wholly  avoidable. 

The  printer  frequently  works  in  a  place  by  no  means  designed 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  his  health  and  comfort.  Narrow, 
low-ceiled  warehouse  lofts,  basements,  attics,  inner  rooms  of 
office  buildings,  inadequately  lighted  and  badly  ventilated,  — 
such  makeshifts  for  composing  rooms  frequently  see  a  large  force 
of  compositors  and  readers  patiently  pursuing  their  labors.  The 
annoying  racket  of  presses  and  line-casting  machines,  added  to 


440 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


the  rank  odors  gf  inks  and  benzine,  may  further  set  the  work- 
man's nerves  on  edge,  while  by  turns  he  is  made  to  shiver  in 
cold  draughts  from  open  doors  and  to  swelter  through  hot  waves 
from  steam  pipes.  Before  his  day's  work  is  done  he  is  in  a  state 
of  lassitude  and  extreme  fatigue. 

In  New  York  by  far  the  larger  number  of  printers  die  in 
the  winter  months.  For  this  fact  two  reasons  are  commonly 
assigned.  First,  in  winter  the  air  of  the  composing  rooms, 
with  doors  and  windows  closed,  is  more  foul  than  at  other 
seasons,  and  when  the  risk  of  an  open  window  is  run  pneumonia 
may  follow.  Second,  the  unemployed,  underfed,  and  perhaps 
consumptive  use  up  their  stock  of  health  and  strength  by  mid- 
winter because  of  the  confinement  indoors.  In  effect  the  two 
reasons  become  one;  it  is  a  case  of  pure  air  against  bad  air. 
When  doors  and  windows  are  open  in  summer  the  hands  find 
some  relief  from  print-shop  insanitation. 

The  following  table  shows  the  deaths  of  printers  in  New  York 
by  years  and  by  quarter  years  and  half  years,  for  the  period  from 
1900  to  1903,  inclusive. 


Year  ending 
June  i 

Whole 
Number 
of  Deaths 

Three  Months, 
January  to 
March 

Other  Nine 
Months 

Six  Months, 
November 
to  April 

Other  Six 
Months 

1900      .      . 

69 

23 

46 

35 

34 

IQOI      .      . 

77 

23 

54 

44 

33 

1902      .      . 

90 

27 

63 

50 

40 

1903      .      . 

100 

39 

61 

61 

39 

Totals 

336 

112 

224 

190 

146 

The  three  bad-air  months,  January,  February,  and  March,  in 
these  four  years  took  33.3  per  cent  of  the  deaths  instead  of  the 
25  per  cent  due  in  each  quarter  of  the  year.  The  100  deaths 
of  1903  brought  the  death  rate  of  Typographical  Union  No.  6 
(New  York)  up  to  the  extraordinary  figure  of  17  per  1000,  the 
membership  being  slightly  more  than  6000.  For  the  international 
union,  with  a  membership  of  42,436,  the  death  rate  in  1903  was 
ii  per  1000,  the  average  for  the  last  twelve  years  being  13  per 
1000.  Comparison  with  the  general  average  death  rate  of  society 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  441 

brings  poor  encouragement  for  printers.    The  death  rate  for 

:  men,  women,  and  children  in  some  American  cities  is  less  than 

19  per  1000;  in  certain  large  districts  in  England,  even  includ- 

.  ing  infant  mortality,  it  is  less  than   15  per  1000  per  annum. 

For  Greater  New  York,  with  a  population  of  3,570,000,  the  death 

rate  for  the  week  ending  October  29,  1904,  was  14.46. 

For  the  year  ending  May  31,  1904,  No.  6  lost  1 12  members  by 
death.  The  year  had  brought  into  its  ranks  about  five  hundred 
new  members ;  hence  the  usual  local  death  rate  was  outstripped. 
The  death  rate  for  printers  in  New  York  is  almost  double  what 
it  ought  to  be,  as  indicated  by  the  general  rate  in  healthy  com- 
munities. For  the  International  Typographical  Union  member- 
ship the  death  rate  is  30  to  40  per  cent  higher  than  the  normal. 

That  there  may  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  membership  of  No.  6 
and  its  death  rate  the  number  paying  per  capita  tax  to  the  Inter- 
national in  the  years  mentioned  is  herewith  given:  July  i,  1898, 
to  June  30,  1899,  5140;  July  i,  1899,  to  June  30,  1900,  4898; 
July  i,  1900,  to  May  31,  1901,4620;  1902,  5258;  1903,  5850. 
The  actual  membership  each  year  was  several  hundred  in  excess 
of  these  figures,  as  about  5  per  cent  are  usually  in  arrears. 

Some  members  of  No.  6  have  the  impression  that  "all  the 
broken  down  printers  of  the  country  flock  to  New  York."  This 
is  not  confirmed  by  wide  observation.  The  brother  who  is  bank- 
rupt in  health  and  purse  is  a  figure  familiar  in  every  large  typo- 
graphical center.  Even  in  country  towns  the  seldom  employed 
extra  hand,  in  habits  identical  with  his  city  compeer,  is  ever  to 
be  found.  The  opinion  of  our  international  secretary  on  this  point, 
founded  on  his  many  visits  to  all  the  larger  cities  during  his  long 
term,  and  on  his  constant  tabulation  of  statistical  returns  is: 
"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  whether  or  not  your  relief  fund 
attracts  invalids  and  superannuated  members  to  New  York.  All 
of  our  unions  have  old  members  whom  they  assist  in  different 
ways.  From  what  I  know  of  the  membership  of  your  union,  I 
do  not  believe  you  have  more  than  your  share  in  proportion  to 
the  membership." 

A  comparison  between  No.  6's  own  total  of  deaths  from  year 
to  year  and  the  total  for  all  the  other  unions  in  the  I.  T.  U.,  with 


442 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


the  two  consequent  but  divergent  averages,  leads  one  to  ask 
whether  the  apparent  excess  of  the  death  rate  given  for  No.  6  is 
accurate.  For  example,  in  the  last  three  years  No.  6  itself  paid 
death  benefits  in  thirteen  cases  not  granted  by  the  International. 
A  similar  ratio  of  difference  between  the  actual  totals  of  the 
other  local  unions  and  the  International's  total  would  raise  the 
latter's  true  death  rate  considerably.  And  this  difference  may 
for  other  reasons  be  even  greater  than  it  seems.  While  No.  6's 
members  and  their  families  strain  a  point  to  obtain  its  $150 
insurance,  in  cities  which  have  no  extra  local  death  fund  mem- 
bers may  fall  away  from  the  union  during  the  period  of  old  age 
or  a  time  of  prolonged  straitened  circumstances  before  death. 
If  this  be  true,  the  headquarters  rate  of  13  deaths  per  1000  per 
year  for  twelve  years  is  less  than  the  actual  figure. 

.  .  .  Released  from  the  depressing  atmosphere  of  the  com- 
posing room  after  long  hours  of  nerve  tension,  many  an  exhausted 
printer's  one  absorbing  inclination  is  "to  take  a  bracer."  Unless 
he  is  a  man  of  self-control,  systematically  conducting  his  struggle 
for  life  and  health,  he  takes  his  bracer  in  some  form  of  alcohol. 
From  every  point  of  view  this  habit  is  fraught  with  danger.  If 
he  takes  his  beer  or  spirits  at  home,  the  sought-for  stimulus  may 
be  attained  after  a  time  only  by  increasing  the  quantity  of  the 
drink.  If  he  imbibes  in  a  barroom,  conviviality  may  lead  him  to 
deprive  himself  of  his  needed  rest  abed  and  also  to  consume 
beyond  his  appetite.  However  or  wherever  a  man  drinks,  the 
drop  he  desires  as  a  tonic  may  become  the  quantity  acting  as  a 
poison.  The  printer's  danger  is  doubled  with  his  allowance  of 
drink.  While  the  depression  consequent  on  plumbism  and  viti- 
ated air  gives  him  a  craving  for  alcohol,  by  a  counteraction  alco- 
hol taken  in  excess  predisposes  him  to  plumbism.  Here,  indeed, 
is  a  vicious  circle. 

A  broken-down  alcoholic  printer  is  commonly  the  compound 
resultant  of : 

First.    Incomplete  physical  development  as  a  youth. 

Second.  Daily  exhaustion  as  either  a  hand  or  machine  type- 
setter. 

Third.    Unsanitary  conditions  in  the  printing  office. 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  443 

Fourth.  Ignorance  and  consequently  carelessness  regarding 
personal  hygiene. 

Fifth.    Plumbism. 

Sixth.  Alcohol,  with  later  the  interaction  of  plumbism  and 
alcohol. 

Seventh.    Vagrant  living. 

Printers  who  are  victims  of  alcohol  have  the  same  unmis- 
takable stamp.  On  seeing  a  knot  of  them  congregated  at  a 
corner  a  literary  man  exclaimed,  "What  saturnine  faces  they 
have  !  "  Curiously,  Dr.  Oliver,  speaking  of  the  pale  and  expres- 
sionless faces  of  persons  suffering  from  lead  poison,  says  that 
acute  cases  are  termed  saturnine  cachexy.  But  alcohol  drives 
blood  to  the  eyes  and  nose.  A  case  of  alcoholic  plumbism,  there- 
fore, presents  a  bloated  face,  with  heavy  and  dull  outlines,  grayish 
white  as  to  the  broader  surfaces,  mottled  red  as  to  middle  fea- 
tures, the  expression  of  the  whole  sullen  and  sodden. 

The  high  death  rate  of  men  in  this  class  is  an  accepted  fact  in 
the  trade.  Just  what  proportion  of  printers  falls  to  the  level  of 
the  chronic  alcohol  patient  it  is  difficult  to  estimate.  The  impres- 
sions of  the  casual  observer  may  be  grossly  inaccurate.  The 
veteran  proprietor  of  a  daily  newspaper  once  expressed  his  belief 
that  few  of  the  one  hundred  compositors  he  employed  were  steady 
men.  Never  going  up  to  the  composing  room  himself,  he  took  his 
impressions  largely  from  a  group  of  disreputables  always  standing 
about  the  side-door  entrance.  Though  really  less  than  one  tenth 
.of  the  force,  these  loungers,  with  floating  "subs,"  bore  false 
testimony  against  the  other  nine  tenths  who  passed  in  or  out  of 
the  building  without  halt.  .  .  . 

A  rule-of-thumb  method  of  estimating  the  proportion  of  alco- 
holic printers  would  be  to  ascertain  the  probable  number  among 
those  drawing  out-of-work  relief  at  the  union  rooms.  Since  1893 
No.  6  has  appropriated  $25,000  to  $47,000  a  year  for  its 
unemployed,  paying  the  money  for  stated  periods  in  weekly 
allowances.  Several  successive  relief  clerks  and  several  com- 
mitteemen  have  concluded  that  not  more  than  one  man  in  three 
drawing  relief  is  incapacitated  through  drink.  Since  the  largest 
number  of  members  ever  receiving  a  week's  allowance  is  about 


444 


TRADE  UNIONISM   AND   LABOR   PROBLEMS 


300,  this  would  indicate  that  of  the  6000  members  less  than  2 
per  cent  are  alcoholics  at  any  one  time.  But  it  is  among  this 
2  per  cent  that  death  is  ever  busiest.  One  of  the  union  officials 
says,  "As  one  set  dies  off  others  come  to  take  their  places." 
Not  the  perfect  sobriety  of  all  the  remaining  98  per  cent  keeps 
the  proportion  of  alcoholics  down  to  2  per  cent,  but  the  havoc 
of  death  among  the  stricken. 

Besides  chronic  alcoholics  there  are  occasionals.  A  printer, 
exhausted,  depressed  and  not  aware,  perhaps,  how  much  he  is 
physically  the  victim  of  circumstances,  finding  relief  in  a  glass 
and  lively  company,  quits  work  for  a  day  or  a  week,  with  drink 
his  recreation.  His  vitality  having  been  lowered  at  his  trade  and 
his  nerves  now  deadened  by  alcohol,  he  catches  cold  readily  and 
in  a  short  time  develops  pneumonia.  If  he  recovers,  his  chances 
for  sound  health  are  diminished.  He  may  be  a  sober  man  the 
rest  of  his  days,  but  alcohol  has  done  for  him  what  plumbism 
and  foul  printing-office  air  might  never  have  done.  It  has  proba- 
bly killed  his  chances  for  longevity.  His  death  sooner  or  later 
adds  one  more  in  the  respiratory  column  of  the  I.  T.  U.  statistics. 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  seen  in  the  main  the  facts  elicited  by 
the  query,  "  Why  is  the  death  rate  among  printers  so  high  ? "  Let 
us  now  ask,  "  Cannot  that  death  rate  be  lowered  ?"  It  is  with  this 
object  in  view  that  this  study  of  the  printer  has  been  written. 

The  typographer,  as  we  have  seen,  is  largely  "  made  up  "  by  his 
trade,  —  by  physical  conditions  as  they  exist  in  that  trade.  Indi- 
viduals, many  of  them,  may  vary  widely  from  the  typical  printer. 
But  when  we  perceive  that  there  is  a  trade  type  of  man,  and 
that  not  a  high  physical  type,  we  naturally  desire  to  have  the 
average  printer  brought  up  to  normal  standards  or  higher. 

The  first  truth  to  be  recognized  is  that  the  remedy  lies  largely 
in  our  own  hands,  individually  and  collectively.  Individually, 
because  every  man  has  a  will  and  intellect  of  his  own,  whereby 
his  acts  are  effective.  Collectively,  because  every  printer  suffers 
more  or  less  from  the  lack  of  prevision  and  care  on  the  part  of 
all  the  craft. 

We  must  grant  a  certain  influence  on  all  persons  who  toil 
within  its  doors  due  to  conditions  in  the  printing  office.  The 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  445 

very  trend  of  the  printer's  mind  and  spirits  uniformly  depends 
in  large  degree  on  the  state  of  his  body.  Printers  present  to 
the  observer  curiously  coincident  mental  attitudes  on  surface 
matters.  Deeper  down,  of  course,  they  differ.  If  compositors 
are  an  irritable  lot,  as  evidenced  in  their  explosive  denunciations 
of  the  proof  reader,  it  signifies  in  part  the  evil  effects  of  lead  on 
nerve  tissue,  which  men  can  no  more  fully  control  than  they 
can  change  a  printing-office  complexion.  If  printers  are  sadly 
skeptical  and  prone  to  censure,  it  must  be  due  to  foul  air  in  the 
lungs  rather  than  to  perverted  impulses  of  the  heart.  If  they 
know  the  names  rather  than  the  contents  of  books,  it  is  because 
their  constant  perusal  of  copy  during  long  hours  of  work  satiates 
their  appetite  for  general  reading.  The  indifference  or  apathy 
prevalent  in  the  craft  to  office  hygiene,  or  even  to  the  first  step 
necessary  to  hygienic  reform, — a  study  of  health  conditions, — 
may  be  traced  to  occupational  overexhaustion  and  physical 
underdevelopment. 

And  next  one  must  grant  the  difficulty  in  changing  printing 
offices  for  the  better.  The  lunch  rooms  show  little  improvement 
from  one  year  to  another.  Chapel  chairmen  in  vain  declare  that 
foremen  or  managers  ought  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  alcoholic  .bever- 
ages anywhere  in  the  building,  creating  as  it  does  the  very  evils 
that  result  in  many  a  man's  discharge.  To  enforce  fresh-air  laws 
compositors  are  sometimes  obliged  to  call  in  the  Board  of  Health. 
But  the  crowning  difficulty  lies  in  the  problem  of  a  workday  that 
unfits  the  compositor  for  any  duty  except  his  daily  shop  task. 

Yet,  if  once  he  is  determined  to  grapple  with  the  remediable 
evils  of  the  occupation,  every  individual  can  fall  back  on  certain 
resources  of  his  own,  while  he  may  also  look  for  the  action  of 
the  union  in  a  very  considerable  sphere. 

The  important  point  is  to  know  that  health  is  mainly  the 
result  of  management.  When  we  read  that  as  a  class  literary 
men  are  the  longest-lived,  we  must  see  plainly  on  reflection  that 
it  is  because  they  are  observers  and  thinkers.  Ascertaining  as 
closely  as  possible  the  truth  as  to  certain  influences  relating. to 
health,  they  proceed  to  act  on  this  knowledge.  As  men  in  gen- 
eral might  do  if  better  educated,  they  observe  at  least  the  more 


446         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

obvious  laws  of  health.  They  know  how  far  the  physical  state 
of  an  individual  is  the  result  of  accident  and  how  far  of  taking 
proper  care  of  himself. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  with  advancing  years  many  printers 
study  their  health.  Our  International  Union  statistics  show  that 
the  printer  who  safely  passes  forty-five  may  live  long  afterward. 
Of  329  members  who  died  in  1901  and  1902  between  the  ages 
of  forty-five  and  seventy-four,  inclusive,  197  were  between  forty- 
five  and  fifty-nine,  while  132  were  between  sixty  and  seventy- 
four.  Thus  only  sixty-five  more  died  during  the  first  age  period 
of  fifteen  years  after  forty-four  than  during  the  second ;  and 
hence  a  printer  at  forty-five  would  have  but  three  chances  of 
dying  before  fifty-nine  to  two  thereafter  before  seventy-four. 
But  these  data  are  slight,  of  course,  and  all  printers  do  not  die 
members  of  the  union,  a  somewhat  numerous  class  being  the  men 
who  leave  the  trade  while  yet  young.  Printers  often  meet  a  man 
who  will  tell  them  :  "  I  once  worked  at  typesetting,  but  had  to 
quit  the  business  on  account  of  poor  health."  On  the  other  hand, 
very  few  men,  it  may  be  safely  said,  take  up  our  occupation  to 
improve  their  health. 

On  passing  into  the  forties,  however,  many  printers  take  on 
flesh.  The  vigorous  survivors  who  have  arrived  at  middle  life, 
if  not  wholly  immune  to  the  effects  of  lead,  resist  it  successfully, 
and  those  who  drink  regulate  their  habits  with  a  deepening  wis- 
dom. The  vitality  of  the  strong  then  asserts  itself  in  a  spread 
of  girth.  Proof  readers  almost  invariably  grow  stouter  at  their 
sedentary  labors.  In  1898  the  seventeen  readers  in  the  World 
proof  room,  nearly  all  men  past  forty,  and  all  but  one  or  two 
graduates  of  the  composing  room,  weighed  on  the  average  174 
pounds,  about  40  pounds  more  than  the  average  male  American. 

How  much  can  be  done  through  obeying  the  laws  of  health  in 
rebuilding  even  the  physically  ruined  man  is  marvelous.  In 
1899  No.  6's  printers'  farm,  maintaining  on  an  average  forty-six 
superannuated  and  invalided  men  for  twenty-seven  weeks,  reha- 
bilitated their  health  in  nearly  all  cases  and  literally  fattened 
many  of  them  like  beeves.  In  six  months  several  gained  twenty- 
five  pounds,  others  fifteen,  twelve,  or  ten.  In  nine  months  one 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  447 

gained  forty  pounds.  Some  so  weak  on  going  to  the  farm  that 
they  could  barely  walk  were  soon  at  work  gardening  with  the 
sensation  of  play. 

Encouraged  by  such  considerations,  the  printer,  or  more  accu- 
rately the  compositor,  will  ask,  "  What  regimen  can  I  adopt  to 
counteract  the  conditions  in  which  I  work?  How  can  I  other- 
wise strive  for  health  ? " 

He  who  has  reached  the  anxious  stage  must  inevitably  begin 
with  settling  in  his  mind  the  question  whether  or  not  he  really 
will  take  proper  care  of  his  health.  He  must  decide  whether  he 
is  to  act  and  live  as  a  man  who  is  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his 
duties  to  himself,  his  home,  and  society,  or  whether  he  is  merely 
to  float  along  as  a  worthless  piece  of  human  driftwood.  If  he  is 
to  be  a  man,  he  will  do  a  man's  part.  He  will  make  and  not 
mar  himself. 

Next,  on  mentally  revolving  the  question  in  its  various  phases, 
he  will  perceive  that  even  the  printer  shut  up  in  an  office  may 
within  certain  limits  be  what  manner  of  man  he  will.  Just  as 
apprentices  may  or  may  not  employ  or  neglect  their  passing 
opportunities  to  learn  the  trade,  so  may  all  the  members  of  the 
craft  employ  or  neglect  what  means  are  open  to  them  to  pre- 
serve their  health.  One  thing  is  certain,  —  a  man's  health  rarely 
takes  care  of  itself. 

What  should  be  the  principal  health  rules  of  a  printer  ? 

Few  will  dispute  that  the  day  a  young  compositor  decides  to 
let  drink  alone  he  takes  the  first  step  in  turning  his  face  toward 
health.  With  the  basis  of  fair  health,  his  prospects  for  thrift, 
uprightness,  and  mental  improvement  —  and,  moreoverr  respect- 
ability and  independence  —  are  increased  tenfold.  He  not  only 
fortifies  himself  against  lead  poison,  but  he  turns  his  back  on 
the  source  of  ruin  to  thousands  now  among  the  dead. 

To  buoyant  youth  the  ills  of  life  are  far  away.  The  deadly 
consequences  of  drink,  seeming  so  remote,  the  lively  young 
printer  regards  lightly.  The  possibility  of  his  falling  to  the 
drunkard's  level  he  can  hardly  entertain  seriously.  Yet  decade 
by  decade  the  statistics  of  drink  continue  to  repeat  themselves 
or  to  reveal  results  worse  than  ever  before.  Dr.  Oliver  says  the 


448         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

mortality  of  English  printers  from  alcoholism  in  1891  had  fully 
trebled  as  compared  with  what  it  was  in  ,1881.  "I  can  drink  or 
let  it  alone,"  vanity  whispers  to  the  young  compositor  as  he 
works  on  the  mortuary  tables  of  his  community  and  observes 
their  frightful  testimony  against  alcohol.  In  his  absorbing  self- 
confidence  he  detects  in  himself  no  weakness  for  stimulants,  yet 
in  a  few  years  more  his  own  name  may  be  set  up  in  the  same 
tabular  forms  by  another  compositor,  this  one,  too,  perhaps, 
equally  unwise  and  self -deluded.  The  whisper  of  hope  that  self 
may  go  scot-free  forever  while  others  die  is  akin  to  lunacy. 
And  that  men  should  resort  to  barrooms,  of  all  places,  for  health 
suggestions,  or  should  consult  saloon  keepers  as  to  remedies  for 
their  ills,  tells  an  amazing  story  of  ignorance  and  credulity.  For 
these  professors  of  hygiene,  the  publicans,  themselves  steadily 
die  off  like  victims  of  a  perennial  plague. 

If  the  drink  habit  is  on  the  increase  among  printers  in  Eng- 
land, it  may  with  some  certainty  be  affirmed  that  it  is  on  the 
decrease  in  America.  The  typecasting  machine,  no  less  than  all 
other  costly  and  intricate  machinery,  requires  its  operators  to  be 
sober  and  otherwise  at  their  best  in  body  and  mind.  The  machine 
has  also  greatly  diminished  the  ranks  of  the  "  tourists,"  that  ele- 
ment in  the  craft  most  conspicuous  in  maintaining  traditions  of 
a  reckless  and  convivial  manner  of  life.  Transit  by  electricity 
has  enabled  many  a  night  hand  to  get  what  in  horse-car  days  was 
impossible, — a  dwelling  place  in  the  suburbs,  where  both  jour- 
neyman and  apprentice  find  social  pleasures  dissociated  from 
drinking  resorts.  To-day  among  American  printers  more  men 
than  ever  before  are  avoiding  the  drink  habit  and  are  quietly 
influencing  others  to  do  likewise.  In  voicing  a  sentiment  against 
strong  drink  one  can  feel  that  he  is  moving  with  the  tide  and 
attacking  a  diminishing  evil.  Yet  it  is  still  an  evil,  and  invites 
every  blow  that  can  be  dealt  to  it. 

On  the  road  to  sobriety  taken  by  the  young  printer  personal 
cleanliness  becomes  the  care  first  in  importance.  Next  comes  eat- 
ing. The  young  printer  in  fair  health,  working  during  the  day, 
can  practice  the  plain  dietetic  rules  generally  laid  down  by  med- 
ical men.  .  .  .  The  morning  newspaper  printer  whose  stomach  is 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  449 

about  normal  may  take  food  four  times  a  day  to  advantage,  as  it 
will  lessen  his  inclination  for  stimulating  drink.  Unavoidably,  he 
must  go  to  work  after  his  dinner,  the  evening  meal  and  the 
heaviest  of  the  four.  The  other  three  meals  may  be  light :  break- 
fast on  rising,  a  full  meal ;  a  fruit  luncheon  at  eleven  o'clock  or 
midnight  ;  and  on  reaching  home,  about  four  in  the  morning, 
something  easily  digestible,  such  as  hot  apple  sauce  with  a  piece 
of  bread.  Under  this  regimen  the  stomach  will  never  become 
so  empty  as  to  bring  on  weak  spells.  It  is  when  he  is  hot,  tired, 
and  languid  that  even  the  sober  compositor  feels  that  a  drink 
might  do  him  good. 

The  linotype  operator,  the  proof  reader,  or  the  compositor  not 
on  his  feet  constantly  during  the  working  hours  ought  to  walk 
home  in  all  kinds  of  weather  if  he  lives  within  two  or  even  three 
miles  of  the  office.  A  good  walk  after  work  will  make  him 
breathe  deeply,  put  his  blood  in  active  circulation,  and  benefit 
the  whole  inner  man.  It  will  "help  digestion,"  "purify  the 
blood,"  "strengthen  the  muscles,"  and  "throw  off  waste  prod- 
ucts," as  the  writers  of  medical  advertisements  say  of  their 
nostrums.  Moreover,  walking  just  before  going  to  bed  is  a  prime 
promoter  of  sleep. 

Sound  sleep  is  necessary  to  health.  He  who  shuns  overwork, 
eats  regularly,  takes  no  strong  drink,  and  avoids  harmful  food  is 
well  on  the  way  to  find  sleep,  if  this  is  possible  amid  his  home 
surroundings.  The  morning  newspaper  printer  is  at  the  mercy 
of  day  noises,  for  which  there  is  no  prevention.  Still,  he  should 
sleep  with  his  bedroom  windows  open.  Some  night  hands  have 
their  shades  up  daytime  and  yet  sleep  in  comfort  blindfold. 
Regular  rest  brings  regular  sleep,  if  this  can  be  brought  at  all. 
But  "snub  sleep,  and  she  turns  away." 

Beware  of  the  man  who  offers  you  drugs.  "  Take  a  little  rye 
whisky,"  advises  the  bartender,  or  it  may  be  beer  or  brandy. 
"Take  a  bottle  of  this,"  advises  the  druggist,  handing  out  the 
product  of  a  liberal  advertiser  and  profit  payer.  "  Take  this  pre- 
scription for  your  catarrh,"  advises  the  physician,  substituting 
medicine  for  hygiene.  Ninety  per  cent  of  the  printers  swal- 
lowing the  doses  proffered  them  would  be  the  better  for  throwing 


450        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  stuff  away,  for  they  would  avoid  the  "after  effects"  of 
alcohol,  opium,  and  mistaken  local  treatment. 

But  after  all  the  real  trouble  is  that  one  cannot  ordinarily 
interest  most  men  even  in  their  own  health  until  it  is  gone. 
That  health  should  be  a  subject  of  daily  consideration,  especially 
in  connection  with  food,  clothing,  workshop,  dwelling  place,  and 
length  of  workday,  most  men  have  no  more  conception  than 
children.  Many  are  middle-aged  before  they  know  how  to  take 
a  drink  of  water ;  they  are  not  aware  that  what  they  call  "  thirst " 
in  summer  or  in  an  overheated  rdom  is  often  no  more  than  a  hot 
throat  and  mouth,  and  may  be  relieved  by  rinsing  and  gargling 
with  cold  water,  perhaps  without  swallowing  a  drop. 

Usually  he  who  passes  unscathed  amid  conditions  killing  to 
others  moves  blithely  along,  his  mind  occupied  with  affairs  of 
his  own.  Not  until  he  himself  is  stricken  does  the  individual 
who  is  careless  bestir  himself.  Circumstances  detrimental  only 
to  the  weaker  call  forth  no  protest  from  the  stronger.  "We're 
not  bothered  by  any  draughts,"  say  the  majority  to  the  feeble 
men  who  are  chilled  and  want  the  windows  closed.  And  the 
shielded  care  little  for  the  exposed.  "  There's  no  lead  poisoning 
in  printing  offices  nowadays,"  oracularly  said  a  daily  newspaper 
managing  editor  in  my  presence ;  "  linotype  matter  is  nearly  all 
antimony  and  has  only  a  trace  of  lead,"  —  impressions  he  might 
have  corrected  by  consulting  the  office  reference  books  or  inquiry 
at  the  type  foundry.  Moreover,  he  but  substituted  one  poison 
for  another,  for  working  up  antimony  is  classed  by  the  faculty 
as  a  dangerous  occupation. 

To  pass  now  from  the  sphere  of  individual  effort  to  that  of 
collective  activity,  What  can  the  union  do  for  the  health  of  its 
members  ?  Briefly,  it  may : 

First.  Bring  printing  offices  up  to  the  standards  of  the  Board 
of  Health. 

Second.    Take  sides  against  alcohol. 

Third.  Enlist  employers  in  improving  printing  office  con- 
ditions. 

Fourth.  Assume  a  guardian's  protection  over  helpless  mem- 
bers. 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  451 

Fifth.    Stop  speeding  and  overtime  at  health  limits. 

Sixth.    Continue  to  shorten  the  workday. 

Justification  of  the  last  two  measures  is  plain.  There  is  a 
limit  to  the  compositor's  power  of  turning  out  a  "string."  Every 
hour  added  to  his  day's  work  after  he  is  thoroughly  fatigued  is 
an  injury  to  his  health.  Where  conditions  are  so  unwholesome 
as  in  the  printing  trade  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  men  to  avoid 
excesses  of  toil  as  they  would  serious  excesses  of  any  other  sort. 
The  day  when  printers  have  natural  and  reasonable  hours  will 
be  shown  when  apprentices  enjoy  a  vigorous  growth,  when  con- 
sumption is  not  a  frequent  occupational  effect,  when  the  propor- 
tion of  the  men  predisposed  to  drink  is  reduced  to  the  general 
mean,  and  when,  no  less  than  in  healthful  pursuits,  the  average 
term  of  life  will  rise  from  forty-two  years,  as  it  is  at  present, 
to  half  again  that  age. 

In  considering  the  various  steps  the  union  may  adopt  to 
promote  the  health  of  its  members,  it  becomes  plain  that  the 
first  and  most  promising  is  to  establish  the  eight-hour  workday. 
Whatever  else  may  be  desirable,  that  object  is  feasible. 

In  the  large  cities  the  printer  must  generally  rise  early  and 
travel  far  to  reach  the  printing  office  district  from  the  modest 
neighborhood  to  which  high  rents  have  driven  his  family  ;  in 
New  York  perhaps  thousands  in  our  trade  spend  two  hours  a  day 
moving  to  and  fro  between  office  and  home.  It  is  the  time  so 
consumed  that  stands  in  the  way  of  the  printer's  self-care  in 
many  respects.  He  neglects  a  cold  because  he  has  no  time  to 
visit  a  doctor  unless  he  takes  a  day  off;  he  lays  aside  books 
or  papers  that  he  knows  are  of  importance  to  him  and  which  he 
never  finds  time  to  read;  he  puts  off  family  matters  that  need 
his  attention  and  suffers  afterward  from  their  neglect ;  he  fails  to 
take  hold  of  the  question  of  office  sanitation  because  of  his  hurry 
to  get  away  and  be  home  at  the  expected  hour.  At  work  he  is 
nowadays  expected  to  be  capable  of  rushing.  In  some  offices 
rush  is  the  rule.  There  the  man's  nerves  are  racked  in  nine 
hours.  Machine  operating  will  run  him  down  in  less  time.  With 
his  mind  bent  on  his  task  while  in  the  office  and  both  body  and 
mind  in  a  state  of  fatigue  in  his  off  hours,  he  feels  that  he  has 


452 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


hardly  opportunity  to  think.  It  is  certain  he  cannot  make  the 
best  of  his  mental  or  physical  powers.  The  recreation  of  his 
Sundays  and  holidays  can  come  only  after  he  has  performed 
necessary  tasks  at  home.  He  may  entertain  many  plans  for  self- 
advancement,  all  to  be  postponed  until  he  can  find  time  to  begin. 
He  may  feel  he  is  standing  still,  only  to  rejoice,  however,  that 
he  is  not  going  backward. 

.  .  .  The  introduction  of  the  machines  in  the  trade  was  mas- 
tered by  the  union,  else  we  might  in  many  towns  see  them  now 
operated  by  girls  working  ten  hours  a  day.  Science  and  labor 
organized  have  herein  released  the  daily  newspaper  compositors 
from  trade  customs  little  better  than  slavish.  When  I  was  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  in  1867,  at  a  union  meeting  in  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  the  president  called  upon  me,  as  "  the  youngest  states- 
man ever  seen  on  the  floor,"  to  make  a  speech.  I  had  within 
that  year  been  introduced  to  the  morning  newspaper  system  of 
work  then  prevailing  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Composition  began 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  continued  three  hours ;  with 
a  second  start  at  seven  it  kept  up,  with  waiting  breaks,  until  three 
or  later  next  morning.  Distribution  began  at  noon  or  before  and1 
was  resorted  to  during  the  waits.  The  working  day  thus  dragged 
along  through  fourteen  hours  or  more.  In  response  to  the  pres- 
ident's invitation  I  managed  to  say  above  a  whisper  that  I 
should  like  to  see  our  workday  on  the  newspapers  brought  down 
to  ten  hours,  like  the  rest  of  the  world  about  us.  My  words  were 
followed  with  the  outbreak  of  laughter  that  is  evoked  on  hearing 
mention  of  the  impossible.  But  to-day  morning  newspaper  com- 
positors usually  work  only  eight  hours.  Some  work  seven. 

The  coming  four  decades  may  see  changes  in  the  trade  almost 
equally  striking.  Up  to  the  present  time  unionism  in  its  forma- 
tive period  has  perforce  paid  most  attention  to  preventing  a  fall 
in  wages  and  to  shortening  the  workday,  the  latter  largely  on 
economic  grounds.  In  the  future,  while  pursuing  these  essential 
purposes,  I  believe  the  collective  printers  will  also  systematically 
set  about  defending  their  health. 

In  time  the  reformed  printery  will  surely  come.  The  building 
will  be  designed  for  a  printing  office,  and  not  be  a  structure 


THE  PRINTER'S  HEALTH  453 

condemned  for  all  other  purposes.  Neither  will  it  be  a  boastful 
new  edifice  with  every  modern  improvement  except  where  the 
printers  work.  The  composing  room  ceilings  will  be  fourteen  to 
twenty  feet  high.  The  walls  will  be  of  a  cheerful  neutral  tint. 
The  floors  will  be  swept  daily  during  the  absence  of  the  force. 
The  semicivilized  hands  who  still  spit  will  use  spittoons  ;  there  will 
be  no  sputum  on  the  floor.  Mechanical  fans  will  blow  out  the 
floating  dust ;  ventilating  tubes  will  run  from  both  floor  and 
ceiling.  Type  cases  will  pass  under  the  bellows  often.  Every 
man,  possessed  of  his  own  locker,  will  wear  while  at  work  a  suit 
of  clothes  designed  for  the  office.  The  wash  rooms,  tile  laid, 
will  have  the  appointments  of  a  good  hotel.  Cases  and  linotype 
machines  will  be  ranged  out  of  draughts  and  so  as  to  give  left- 
hand  window  lights,  and  where  artificial  illumination  is  used  it 
will  be  electricity,  with  the  lamp  shades  tinted,  the  outer  side 
green  and  the  inner  white.  Press  and  stereotype  rooms  will  be 
separate  from  the  composing  room.  To  the  proof  readers  will  be 
assigned,  not  stuffy  dens  or  cubby-holes,  but  spacious  private 
offices.  Work  in  such  printing  offices  will  proceed  with  the  joy- 
ful drive  natural  to  well-fed,  happy,  healthy,  full-grown  men. 
On  the  street  the  apprentices  will  look  like  college  athletes,  the 
journeymen  like  prosperous  business  men.  Why  not  ?  Many 
printers  so  appear  now.  The  office  cat  will  wax  fat.  The  entire 
force  will  work  but  six  hours.  Wages,  let  us  hope,'  will  be  one 
dollar  an  hour.  ;  w  SuLUyAK_ 

TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNION  No.  6,  NEW  YORK. 


XXI 

HOURS  OF  LABOR1 

EFFECTS  OF  REDUCTIONS  IN  HOURS 

A  large  amount  of  testimony  has  been  taken  by  the  Indus- 
trial Commission  regarding  the  movement  for  fewer  hours  of 
labor,  and  the  effects  of  reductions  in  hours  upon  production 
and  upon  the  wages  and  conditions  of  workmen  and  their  fami- 
lies. It  is  brought  out  that  in  nearly  all  occupations  an JLn creas- 
ing strain  and  intensity  of  labor:  is  required  by  modernjmethqds 
of  production.  Trade  unions  have  generally  been  compelled  to 
abandon  their  restrictions  upon  the  quantity  of  work  that  a  man 
shall  turn  out.  The  introduction  of  machinery  and  the  division 
of  labor  have  made  it  possible  to  increase  greatly  the  speed  of 
the  individual  workman.  This  intensity  varies  in  different  occu- 
pations. In  glass  blowing  payment  by  the  piece  and  unlimited 
output  have  resulted  in  peculiarly  exhausting  efforts.  The  glass- 
bottle  blower,  working  eight  and  a  half  hours,  says  the  secretary 
of  the  union,  makes  double  the  number  of  bottles,  but  his  period 
of  usefulness  is  ten  years  shorter  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago. 
In  Europe,  as  formerly  in  this  country,  a  man  can  blow  glass 
up  to  sixty  years  of  age ;  now  in  America  he  cannot  work  after 
he  is  fifty  or  fifty-five.  Machinery  operates  in  some  cases  to 
increase  the  intensity  of  labor,  as  in  the  boot  and  shoe  factories, 
where  the  operator  is  required  to  handle  thousands  of  pieces  in 
a  day  and  to  guide  them  through  the  machines.  The  testimony 
of  a  representative  of  the  Cotton  Weavers'  Association  shows 
this  increasing  strain  of  work.  He  says: 

Anybody  who  works  in  the  mills  now  knows  it  is  not  like  what  it 
was  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  because  the  speed  of  the  machinery 

1  From  Final  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  XIX,  1901, 
PP-  763-793- 

454 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  455 

has  been  increased  to  such  an  extent,  and  they  have  to  keep  up 
with  it.  In  some  mills  in  this  city,  and  probably  in  other  cities  in 
this  state,  the  operative  is  compelled  to  turn  off  so  much  production 
per  week,  and  if  the  production  does  not  come  up  to  the  point,  he  or 
she  is  discharged.  There  was  a  time  when  that  was  not  the  case. 
They  took  their  sewing  and  their  knitting  along,  and  there  was  no 
anxiety  about  how  much  work  they  could  get  off,  but  it  is  not  so 
now.  Now  they  work  from  the  time  they  go  in  until  they  come  out. 
You  can  see  them  going  to-morrow  morning  at  ten  minutes  past  six, 
and  they  will  not  come  out  until  six  to-morrow  night. 

The  intensity  of  exertion  operates  to  a  less  degree  in  work 
on  other  classes  of  machinery,  where  the  feeding  is  nearly  auto- 
matic. Even  where  machinery  has  not  been  introduced,  as  in 
the  case  of  bricklayers  and  carpenters,  there  has  come  about  in 
the  larger  cities  a  more  minute  division  of  labor,  so  that  one 
workman  is  occupied  continuously  on  one  kind  of  work,  in 
which  he  acquires  great  speed. 

It  is  certain  that  any  programme  for  reducing  this  intensity  of 
exertion  must  fail.  The  entire  tendency  of  industry  is  in  the 
direction  of  an  increased  exertion.  Any  restrictions  on  output 
must  work  to  the  disadvantage  of  American  industry,  and  the 
employers  are  often  right  in  their  demand,  usually  successful, 
that  such  restrictions  be  abandoned.  This  being  true,  there  is 
but  one  alternative  if  the  working  population  is  to  be  protected 
in  its  health  and  trade  longevity,  namely,  a  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor. 

This  increased  intensity  of  exertion  is  not  found  to  so  great  an 
extent  in  farm  labor.  Nevertheless,  testimony  before  the  com- 
mission shows  that  there  has  been  a  reduction  in  the  Northern 
states  in  the  hours  of  labor  on  farms,  except  in  the  seasons  of 
harvesting.  In  the  case  of  farm  labor  there  is  usually  a  longer 
period  of  rest  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  which  in  the  South 
often  runs  as  high  as  two  hours.  This,  of  course,  is  a  relief  to 
the  severity  of  the  work,  although  it  subtracts  from  the  hours 
of  leisure  at  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  the  day. 

A  reduction  in  hours  in  both  manufactures  and  agriculture 
has  accompanied  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  use  of  machinery 


456         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  the  division  of  labor,  and  on  this  account  it  is  often  impos- 
sible to  measure  the  effect  of  a  reduction  of  hours  on  the  quan- 
tity of  output.  It  might  be  presumed  that  when  paid  by  the 
day  the  workman  would  not  increase  his  output  per  hour  with 
the  shorter  day  as  much  as  when  paid  by  the  piece.  But  this 
is  not  borne  out  by  the  testimony.  The  representative  of  a  silk 
factory,  indeed,  holds  that  when  employees  are  paid  by  the  day 
the  output  in  nine  hours  might  equal  that  in  ten  in  some  depart- 
ments, as  the  weaving  department,  though  not  in  the  spinning 
department  ;  this  might  also  be  true  where  piece  wages  are 
paid  instead  of  time  wages.  He  says: 

Where  machinery  comes  in  as  a  heavy  element  a  spindle  is  a 
spindle,  and  the  more  minutes  it  runs  in  a  day  the  more  work  it  will 
turn  off.  It  cannot  go  any  more  in  one  minute  than  another,  but  it 
runs  straight  ahead,  whereas  in  weaving  the  element  of  personality 
comes  in.  One  has  the  knack  of  keeping  his  threads  in  straight,  and 
another  is  careless  and  has  to  stop  and  mend  them  and  lose  ten  or  fif- 
teen minutes'  time.  A  really  good  weaver  will  get  off  a  great  many 
more  yards  than  a  poor  one  on  the  same  machine,  whereas  a  spindle 
is  a  fixed  quantity  and  the  more  hours  it  runs  the  more  work  it  does. 

[Weavers]  are  paid  by  the  yard,  whereas  the  spinners  are  paid  by 
the  day.  They  get  day  wages  and  they  have  no  particular  incentive 
to  hustle  ;  so  long  as  they  keep  their  ends  up  and  keep  the  spinning 
machine  going  they  are  doing  their  duty.  .  .  .  There  is  little  if  any 
objection  on  the  part  of  the  hands  to  working  overtime  ;  you  cannot 
keep  it  up  long ;  they  get  tired  of  it  after  a  while,  but  for  two  or 
three  months  they  rather  welcome  the  change. 

This  witness  had  not  actually  tested  the  nine-hour  day,  but 
spoke  from  his  judgment  of  the  probabilities.  Another  witness, 
a  representative  of  a  large  drop-forge  establishment,  after  three 
months'  experience  with  the  nine-hour  day,  testified  that  there 
is  a  slightly  larger  average  daily  output  than  there  was  for  the 
ten-hour  day  in  both  day  work  and  piecework,  though  in  every 
other  respect  work  was  done  under  similar  conditions.  This 
has  not  been  due  to  the  fact  that  methods  were  lax  previously, 
for  there  was  rigid  supervision  under  the  ten-hour  system.  A 
part  of  the  gain  has  been  made  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  under 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  457 

the  nine-hour  system  the  men  go  promptly  to  work  on  the  minute 
and  work  up  to  the  very  close  of  the  day  ;  also  because  a  man 
can  work  normally  without  pushing  himself  at  a  higher  rate  of 
speed  for  nine  hours  than  he  can  for  ten.  The  fundamental 
reason,  according  to  this  witness,  for  the  keeping  up  of  the 
amount  of  production  is  to  be  found  in  the  spirit  of  the  men 
themselves.  If  the  machines  were  operated  at  the  highest  rate 
of  speed,  were  in  perfect  condition,  and  were  continuously  fed, 
a  workman  could  not  maintain  his  output  at  the  same  amount, 
if  the  hours  of  labor  were  shortened  ;  but  these  perfect  con- 
ditions are  rarely  if  ever  found.  It  cannot  be  demonstrated 
mathematically  just  how  it  happens  that  a  man  can  produce  as 
much  in  nine  hours  as  he  formerly  could  in  ten,  but  as  a  matter 
of  fact  it  has  been  the  experience  of  almost  every  manufacturer, 
says  this  witness,  that  "  a  man  can  and  will  and  does  do  more 
the  moment  he  is  justly  and  fairly  and  liberally  treated." 

It  is  true  also  that  the  higher  the  wages  and  the  fewer  the 
hours  the  greater  is  the  pressure  upon  the  employer  to  substi- 
tute labor-saving  devices  and  to  be  more  careful  in  his  selection 
of  high-grade  workmen.  No  doubt  it  is  true  that  a  given  auto- 
matic machine  will  not  often  run  faster  per  hour  in  eight  hours 
than  in  ten,  but  industry  has  by  no  means  reached  the  limit  of 
invention.  Invention  will  cease  only  when  the  employer  ceases 
to  adopt  new  labor-saving  machinery,  and  every  reduction  in 
hours  and  rise  in  wages  keeps  the  employer  further  and  further 
away  from  that  sluggish  policy.  While  a  particular  machine 
will  not  go  faster  in  eight  hours  than  in  ten,  the  substitute 
for  that  machine  which  the  eight-hour  day  presses  upon  the 
employer  to  adopt  will  go  faster.  Fewer  hours  have  in  this  way 
an  indirect  as  well  as  a  direct  compensating  effect.  Not  only 
do  they  make  it  possible  for  the  workman  to  keep  up  his  inten 
sity  of  personal  exertion  during  each  hour  of  the  day  and  td 
work  more  days  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  but  they  cause  the 
employer  to  economize  his  labor  at  every  point  and  to  improve 
its  quality  by  better  selection.  One  advantage  to  the  employer1 
in  fewer  hours  is  the  smaller  number  of  breakages  and  injuries 
to  machinery,  owing  to  more  alert  attention  on  the  part  of  t 


458         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

workmen.  For  the  same  reason  it  is  often  true  that  the  quality 
of  the  work  is  better. 

This  pressure  upon  the  employees  accounts  in  part  for  the 
greatly  increased  use  of  machinery  and  the  division  of  labor  in 
the  more  highly  skilled  occupations.  A  representative  of  the 
building  trades  who  testified  before  the  Commission  maintained 
that  the  lessening  of  the  number  of  hours  made  the  erection  of 
buildings  somewhat  more  expensive ;  a  contractor  stated  that 
it  had  enabled  employers  to  get  better  men  and  better  work  than 
under  the  long  workday,  and  that  they  do  more  proportionately 
in  eight  hours  than  they  did  formerly  in  nine  ;  also  that  through 
invention  and  the  introduction  of  machinery  buildings  are  now 
put  up  as  cheaply  as  they  were  in  1872  and  1873,  when  the  hours 
were  ten  a  day.  A  representative  of  the  Chicago  Bridge  and 
Structural  Iron  Workers'  Union  holds  that  the  eight-hour  day 
has  so  increased  the  efficiency  of  the  laborer  that  there  is  actually 
more  work  done  in  eight  hours  than  was  formerly  done  in  ten. 

A  boiler  manufacturer  who  has  adopted  the  eight-hour  day  tes- 
tifies that  he  does  not  think  his  men  do  as  much  in  eight  hours 
as  they  did  in  nine,  taking  one  day  as  the  basis  of  comparison; 
but  that  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  believes  he  would  find  that 
they  had  done  just  as  much  as  they  did  when  they  were  work- 
ing an  hour  longer.  One  condition  necessary  to  bring  about 
this  result  is  that  he  is  careful  to  select  in  his  employment  the 
best  grade  of  men  and  to  treat  them  fairly.  A  manufacturer  of 
mining  machinery  holds  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  man- 
ufacturer to  employ  his  men  only  eight  hours,  since  he  gets  better 
services  out  of  the  men.  Formerly,  when  the  hours  of  machin- 
ists were  reduced  from  twelve  to  ten,  and  again  when  they  were 
reduced  from  ten  to  nine,  the  same  alarming  predictions  were 
made  as  now  when  it  is  proposed  to  reduce  them  from  nine  to 
eight ;  yet  the  inventions  in  machinery  have  made  it  possible 
for  manufacturers  to  reduce  their  hours  and  still  make  as  much 
money  as  they  did  formerly  in  the  longer  workday.  This  witness 
holds  that  the  eight  hours  in  this  industry  are  needed  not  so 
much  to  relieve  the  men  of  severe  exertion  as  because  a  better- 
educated  man  is  required  to  do  the  work. 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  459 

Representatives  of  the  machinists'  organization  do  not  main- 
tain that  a  reduction  in  hours  will  not  immediately  reduce  the 
output ;  in  fact,  their  leading  argument  for  fewer  hours  is  not 
the  severe  physical  exertion  of  machinists,  but  the  larger  oppor- 
tunities for  work  for  the  unemployed,  whose  number  is  now 
increased  by  the  overproduction  consequent  on  increased  effi- 
ciency of  labor  and  labor-saving  machinery.  They  declare,  how- 
ever, that  the  improvements  in  machinery  in  this  country  and 
the  energy  of  the  workmen  enable  them  to  produce  twice  as  much 
as  the  corresponding  English  workmen,  and  a  still  larger  amount 
as  compared  with  the  German.  In  this  way,  gradually,  the  manu- 
facturer overcomes  the  increased  cost  of  reduced  hours. 

The  eight-hour  day  in  the  sheet-steel  mills  was  brought  about 
without  difficulty,  owing  to  the  economy  of  adopting  three 
shifts  of  eight  hours  each.  Prior  to  1884  there  were  two  shifts 
working  ten  hours,  and  between  turns  the  furnaces  lay  idle  with 
coal  in  them  and  had  to  be  kept  hot  until  the  next  set  came 
on.  The  experiment  was  tried  of  increasing  the  speed  and 
reducing  the  hours,  introducing  three  shifts  ;  and  to-day  three 
shifts  are  working  in  all  these  mills,  each  making  nine  instead 
of  seven  heats,  as  was  formerly  done  in  the  ten-hour  day. 

REDUCTION  OF  HOURS  IN  MINING  l 

The  most  important  instance  in  recent  years  of  the  adoption 
of  the  eight-hour  working  day  has  occurred  in  the  bituminous  coal 
mining  industry.  The  strike  of  1897  secured  in  the  bituminous 
mines  of  the  four  leading  eastern  coal  states  —  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania  —  the  eight-hour  day,  and  a  similar 
reduction  has  been  obtained  in  western  states.  In  Utah  the 
eight-hour  day  was  secured  in  1 896  by  action  of  the  legislature 
by  a  law  applying  to  all  mines  and  smelters.  The  difference 
in  the  methods  by  which  this  reduction  was  secured  in  the 
two  cases  adds  interest  to  -a  comparison  of  the  results  which 
followed. 

1  See  testimony  on  this  subject  in  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission, 
Vol.  XII. 


460         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

In  Utah  the  operators  and  employers  did  not  oppose  the 
legislation  at  the  time  of  its  enactment,  largely  because  they 
thought  it  might  be  the  means  of  keeping  down  unions  and 
strikes  and  disturbances  among  the  employees.  This  object 
has  apparently  been  obtained,  since  there  are  no  active  unions 
in  the  state.  A  similar  law  was  enacted  in  Colorado  in  1899, 
but  was  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  state  court.  At  the 
same  time  a  number  of  operators  continued  upon  the  eight-hour 
basis  even  after  the  law  was  declared  unconstitutional. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  reduction  of  hours  in  the 
bituminous  coal  mines  has  not  been  strictly  a  reduction  from 
ten  hours  to  eight,  since  under  the  eight-hour  rule  a  miner  is 
required  to  be  at  his  working  place  when  the  eight  hours  begin 
and  when  the  eight  hours  end,  and  lunch  time  is  taken  from  the 
miner's  time  rather  than  from  the  employer's  time  ;  whereas 
formerly  the  ten  hours  included  the  time  spent  in  going  from 
the  mouth  of  the  pit  to  and  from  the  face  of  the  coal.  In  the 
Pennsylvania  district  the  period  is  nine  hours  instead  of  eight, 
but  includes  the  time  spent  in  going  to  and  from  the  mouth  of 
the  pit.  Strictly  speaking,  the  reduction  is  more  nearly  from 
ten  hours  a  day  to  nine  than  from  ten  hours  to  eight.  In 
Utah,  however,  in  the  case  of  the  smelting  works  the  reduction 
is  much  more  extreme,  the  hours,  formerly  twelve  per  day, 
being  reduced  to  eight.  This  is  a  reduction  of  33!  per  cent  in 
the  time,  and  would  make  necessary  an  increase  in  the  working 
force  of  50  per  cent,  provided  there  were  no  increase  in 
efficiency. 

There  is  a  general  agreement  that  the  fewer  hours  in  the 
coal  mines  have  increased  the  energy  of  the  workmen,  and  that 
there  has  been  little  or  no  decrease  in  the  amount  of  work 
turned  out  during  the  day.  The  men  are  stimulated  "  to  do  a 
good  honest  eight  hours'  work  " ;  the  foremen  do  not  find  them 
asleep,  as  they  used  to,  or  lounging  around  or  smoking. 

The  effect  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  workmen  varies,  how- 
ever, with  different  occupations.  While  it  is  generally  agreed 
that  the  miner  does  as  much  work  in  eight  hours  as  he  formerly 
did  in  ten,  it  is  held  by  a  few  witnesses  that  this  is  not  true  of 


HOURS  OF  LABOR 


461 


the  furnace  men  in  the  smelters,  to  which  the  laws  of  Utah  and 
Colorado  applied.  The  furnace  can  take  only  so  much  material 
an  hour,  and  the  furnace  men  can  do  no  more  work  on  that 
account.  Another  witness,  however,  asserted  that  the  reduc- 
tion of  33J-  per  cent  in  the  hours  of  labor  of  smelter  employees, 
which  would  be  expected  to  require  an  employment  of  50  per 
cent  more  men,  absorbed  only  30  per  cent  more  men  and,  com- 
bined with  the  reduction  in  wages  of  about  23  per  cent  on  the 
basis  of  a  day's  work,  resulted  in  a  net  increase  in  the  cost  of 
labor  of  about  10  per  cent.  The  table  of  wages  and  hours  sub- 
mitted by  this  witness  is  here  given  in  full,  to  which  are  added 
computations  showing  the  wages  per  hour,  the  per  cent  of 
increase  per  hour,  and  the  per  cent  of  decrease  per  day  in  those 
wages  following  the  enforcement  of  the  eight-hour  law  of  June  i, 
1896.  It  shows  reductions  in  the  pay  per  day  of  n  to  33!  per 
cent,  with  increases  in  the  pay  per  hour  of  n  ^33!  per  cent. 


RATES  OF  WAGES,  HANAUER  SMELTING  WORKS,  UTAH 


Occupation 

After  10  per  cent 
Reduction,  Jan.  1,1894 

Under  8-hour  Law, 
June  i,  1896 

After  10 
per  cent 
Reduc- 
tion, 1894 

Under 
8-hour 
Law 

Per 
cent 
Increase 
per  Hour 

Per 

cent 
Decrease 
per  Day 

Crushermen  
Roast  firemen  
Roast  helpers  
Blast  furnace  feed- 
ers   
Furnacemen  
Furnace  helpers  
Laborers 

$2.70  per  12  hours  
$2.25  per  12  hours  
$2.25  per  12  hours  

$2.70  per  12  hours  
$2.70  per  12  hours  
$2.25  per  12  hours  

$2.40  per  8  hours.... 
$1.66  per  8  hours.... 
$1.50  per  8  hours.... 

$2.00  per  8  hours.... 
$2.00  per  8  hours.... 
$1.50  per  8  hours.... 

Cents 
per  hour 
22.5 
18.7 
18.7 

22.5 
22.5 
18.7 

Cents 
per  hour 
30.0 
21.7 
18.7 

17-5 
'7-5 
18.7 

33* 
io§ 
None 

20? 
20? 

None 

"I 
268 
33i 

25 
25 
33* 

Suppliers  

$2.025  per  12  hours 

16  8 

18  7 

26 

Teamsters  
Night  foreman  
Day  foreman  
Blacksmith  
Blacksmith  helpers. 
Dump  foreman  

$2.25  per  10  hours  
$4.05  per  12  hours  
$144  per  month  
$4.00  per  10  hours  
$2.25  per  10  hours  
$2.25  per  10  hours  

$2.25  per  10  hours.. 
$3.25  per  8  hours.... 
$144  per  month  
$4.00  per  10  hours.. 
$1.75  per  jo  hours.. 
$2.25  per  10  hours.. 

22.5 
36.2 

40.0 
22.5 
22.5 

22.5 
40.6 

40.0 

J7-S 
22.5 

None 

12 

None 

20? 

None 

None 

2P 

None 
25 

None 

One  witness  states  that  with  common  labor  under  the  Utah 
law  there  is  very  little  difference  in  the  amount  of  work  accom- 
plished ;  but  others  maintain  that  the  greater  energy  applies 
throughout  all  employments  of  a  manual  character. 


462         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

In  some  of  the  metal  mines  of  Utah  and  Colorado  three 
shifts  have  been  introduced  instead  of  two  shifts  of  ten  hours 
each.  The  mine  that  works  eight  hours  can  produce  more  than 
one  which  works  ten  hours,  not  only  because  the  men  do  as 
much  in  eight  as  in  ten  hours,  but  also  because  under  the  ten- 
hour  system  the  mine  is  idle  four  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  ; 
whereas  under  the  eight-hour  system  one  shift  takes  up  the 
tools  at  the  moment  when  the  preceding  shift  lays  them  down, 
and  no  time  is  lost.  It  is  contended  by  one  witness  that  the 
system  of  shifts  is  impracticable  in  the  bituminous  coal  mines. 
The  loss  occurs  in  operating  the  tipple  at  which  the  coal  is 
loaded  on  the  outside.  It  is  held  that  where  two  hundred  or 
three  hundred  men  are  employed  the  day  shift  and  night  shift 
cannot  be  successfully  introduced,  because  the  tipple  cannot 
be  operated  at  night.  On  this  account  this  witness  claims  that 
the  operator  endures  a  loss  through  the  eight-hour  day,  since 
he  loses  two  hours  in  the  use  of  his  machinery. 

On  the  other  hand,  an  operator  in  the  Massillon  district  of 
Ohio  states  that  where  a  mine  is  prepared  to  take  care  of  the 
coal  a  miner  can  produce  as  much  in  the  eight  hours  as  he 
could  before  in  the  eight  and  a  half  or  nine  hours,  because 
formerly  during  a  large  part  of  this  time  he  was  waiting  for 
cars,  and  because  where  the  equipment  of  the  mines  has  been 
improved  and  the  coal  is  handled  promptly  outside  there  is  not 
much  difference  in  the  output. 

While  the  introduction  of  machinery  in  bituminous  coal  min- 
ing has  for  some  time  been  advancing,  the  greatest  advances 
have  occurred  in  the  past  four  years,  following  the  time  when 
the  eight-hour  day  was  introduced.  The  number  of  tons  mined 
by  machines  in  the  entire  United  States  in  1891  was  6,211,732  ; 
this  had  increased  under  the  ten-hour  system  to  22,649,220 
in  1897,  an  increase  of  16,000,000  tons  in  six  years.  On  the 
other  hand,  from  1897  to  1900,  a  period  of  three  years  under  the 
eight-hour  system,  the  number  of  tons  mined  by  machines  rose 
to  52,790,523,  an  increase  of  30,000,000  tons.  The  proportion 
of  the  output  mined  by  machines  increased  from  6.66  per  cent 
in  1891  to  16.19  per  cent  in  1897,  and  then  to  25.15  per  cent 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  463 

in  1900.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  use  of  machines  would 
have  increased  whether  or  not  the  eight-hour  day  had  been 
introduced,  and  it  cannot  be  shown  statistically  that  the  fewer 
hours  have  stimulated  the  introduction  of  machinery ;  but  indi- 
vidual witnesses  who  have  appeared  before  the  Commission 
have  asserted  this  to  be  the  fact,  and  the  large  increase  in 
machine  mining  seems  to  substantiate  the  claim.  The  two 
factors  —  increased  energy  on  the  part  of  the  employees  and 
increased  economy  on  the  part  of  the  employer  —  have  cer- 
tainly in  the  coal  mining  industry  maintained  a  daily  output 
equal  to  that  which  existed  before  the  eight-hour  day  was  intro- 
duced. This  is  shown  in  the  reports  of  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey  and  of  the  Illinois  Commissioner  of  Labor  on  the 
production  of  coal  for  the  six  years  from  1895  to  1900.  Dur- 
ing the  two  years  1895  and  1896,  under  the  ten-hour  system, 
the  average  output  per  workingman  per  day  was  2.9  and  2.72 
tons  ;  while  in  1897,  during  the  latter  three  months  of  which  the 
eight-hour  day  prevailed,  the  average  output  per  man  was  3.03 
tons  per  day  ;  and  for  1898,  1899,  and  1900,  three  years  of  the 
eight-hour  day  in  the  majority  of  the  coal  mines,  the  average  out- 
put ranged  from  2.98  to  3.09  tons.  Each  year  of  the  eight-hour 
day  shows  for  the  country  as  a  whole  a  larger  output  per  day  for 
each  workman  than  the  highest  output  of  the  ten-hour  day. 

Individual  states  such  as  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  where  there 
has  been  a  great  increase  in  machinery  and  where  since  1897 
the  eight-hour  day  is  universal,  show  an  increased  output  per 
day  per  man.  But  there  is  one  state,  Illinois,  where  the  pro- 
portion of  coal  mined  by  machines  has  remained  fairly  con- 
stant, standing  at  19.57  per  cent  in  1896,  increasing  to  24.9 
per  cent  in  1899,  and  falling  to  19.73  per  cent  in  1900.  In 
this  state  the  highest  output  per  day  for  each  workman  was  in 
1897,  when  it  reached  3.36  tons.  This  was  a  year  when  the 
mines  were  operated  part  of  the  time  ten  hours  a  clay  and  part 
of  the  time  eight.  The  ten-hour  years  (1894-1896)  show  an 
average  output  per  day  for  each  employee  of  2.53  to  3  tons, 
while  the  eight-hour  years  (1898-1900)  show  an  average  of 
3.11  to  3.21  tons.  This  increase  must  be  ascribed  solely  to 


464         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  increased  energy  and  promptness  of  the  workmen,  since, 
as  already  stated,  the  proportion  of  coal  mined  by  machinery  in 
that  state  has  remained  constant. 

In  the  case  of  Utah,  where  the  law  went  into  effect  in  June, 
1896,  there  is  for  the  four  complete  years  of  the  eight-hour 
day  (1897-1900),  an  output  per  day  of  3.54  to  3.99  tons  and 
for  the  three  ten-hour  years  (1894,  1895,  and  1896),  an  output 
of  3.05  to  3.47  tons. 

These  reports  bring  statistical  evidence  to  support  the  testi- 
mony of  witnesses  before  the  Industrial  Commission  that  in 
the  industry  of  coal  mining  the  shorter  working  day  has 
increased  the  efficiency  of  both  the  workman  and  the  manage- 
ment. This  being  so,  it  follows  that  the  shorter  working  day 
has  not  increased  the  amount  of  employment  of  miners,  and 
that  the  increase  which  has  actually  occurred  in  the  number  of 
days  worked  is  to  be  ascribed  solely  to  the  improved  industrial 
conditions  of  the  country  and  not  to  the  reduction  of  hours. 
It  is  true,  as  stated  by  one  witness,  that  the  shorter  working 
day  makes  it  possible  for  the  individual  workman,  under  such 
arduous  conditions  as  those  of  smelting  works,  to  work  a  larger 
number  of  days  each  month.  In  the  smelting  works  of  Utah, 
already  referred  to,  the  men  were  able  to  work  under  the  twelve- 
hour  system  an  average  of  only  twenty-four  days  a  month,  but 
with  the  shorter  hours  they  were  able  to  increase  their  average 
number  of  days  to  nearly  thirty.  Plainly  a  change  of  this  kind, 
to  the  extent  that  the  workman  is  able  to  put  in  more  time., 
does  not  widen  the  opportunities  for  the  absorption  of  the 
unemployed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  that  the  operation  of 
the  smelting  furnaces  cannot  be  greatly  speeded  does  increase 
the  number  of  employees  required  for  a  given  output,  though 
not  proportionately  to  the  decrease  in  hours.  .  .  . 

FOREIGN  COMPETITION  AND  REDUCTION  IN  HOURS 

Lack  of  uniformity  in  the  hours  of  labor  is  burdensome  only 
to  those  employers  who  are  in  the  same  competitive  field.  This 
may  be  a  very  limited  field,  as  in  the  building  trades,  or  it  may 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  465 

cover  the  "entire  area  of  the  United  States,  as  in  most  manu- 
facturing industries,  or  it  may  reach  to  foreign  lands.  Compe- 
tition with  foreign  manufacturers,  where  the  hours  are  longer, 
is  often  advanced  as  an  argument  against  reduction  of  hours  in 
American  industries.  A  manufacturer  of  machinery J  contends 
that  foreign  competition,  especially  competition  with  Germany 
and  Belgium,  where  men  work  low  wages  and  turn  out  good 
material  during  a  long  workday,  makes  it  impossible  to  reduce 
the  hours  from  ten  to  nine  in  this  country.  His  objection  is 
based  upon  the  large  amount  of  capital  invested  in  machinery 
which  he  cannot  afford  to  keep  idle  a  tenth  of  the  normal  time. 
At  the  present  time  the  industries  of  the  United  States  stand 
well  toward  the  front  in  the  movement  for  fewer  hours,  being 
only  less  advanced  than  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  of  Aus- 
tralasia. While  it  is  impossible  to  state  concisely  for  different 
countries  the  average  hours  of  labor,  it  is  possible  to  compare 
countries  as  regards  what  might  be  designated  as  the  prevail- 
ing hours  in  the  industries  engaged  in  international  competi- 
tion. From  the  standpoint  of  competition,  the  eight-hour  day 
in  Australia  has  little  significance,  since  the  industries  of  those 
colonies  which  affect  the  world's  market  are  mainly  agriculture 
and  stock  raising.  Great  Britain,  however,  is  our  severest 
industrial  competitor,  with  the  exception  in  some  industries 
of  France  and  Germany.  At  the  present  time  in  Great  Britain 
the  hours  of  work  per  week  in  factories  are  quite  generally  53; 
that  is,  g^  hours  a  day,  with  a  Saturday  half  holiday.  The 
miners  have  for  some  years  enjoyed  a  workday  not  exceeding 
8  hours.  Compared  with  Great  Britain,  therefore,  the  United 
States,  with  the  prevailing  average  of  about  g\  hours  a  day,  or 
57  a  week,2  has  not  yet  reached  the  point  where  foreign  com- 
petition can  be  said  to  be  an  important  consideration  as  regards 
further  reduction  of  hours.  The  recent  reduction  in  the 
machinery  industries  to  9  hours  per  day  brings  this  country 
more  nearly  to  the  level  which  Great  Britain  has  held  in  that 
industry  for  thirty  years ;  but  in  other  large  industries,  like 

1  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  7. 

2  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  VII,  p.  622. 


466         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

that  of  textiles,  there  still  remains  a  difference  of  5  hours  in 
Massachusetts  to  15  hours  in  the  South  in  excess  of  the  work- 
ing week  of  the  British  workman.  On  the  continent  of  Europe 
the  workday  is  longer  than  in  either  Great  Britain  or  the  United 
States,  ranging  from  10  to  12  hours  a  day  in  Germany,  from 
8  to  13^  in  Hungary,  from  10  to  12  in  Spain,  from  14  to  16  in 
Russia  (except  in  iron  and  steel  works,  where  in  some  occupa- 
tions the  8-hour  day  prevails) ;  in  Austria  the  workday  is  1 1 
hours.  Yet  these  countries,  with  their  long  workdays,  are  less 
able  to  compete  with  the  United  States  than  is  Great  Britain. 
A  reduction  to  9  hours  per  day  in  this  country  would  be  neces- 
sary in  order  to  reach  the  British  level.  A  further  reduction 
below  9  hours  would  be  necessary  in  order  to  subject  American 
industries  to  a  disadvantage  in  competition  with  British  manu- 
facturers, who  at  present  are  our  strongest  foreign  competitors. 
While  foreign  competition  is  a  matter  of  moment  in  consid- 
ering the  reduction  of  hours  in  American  industries,  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  it  has  really  as  great  weight  as  the  competition 
of  different  states  in  the  American  Union  among  themselves. 
There  is  one  advantage  which  the  American  workmen  have  in 
the  matter  of  foreign  competition  which  does  not  hold  in  respect 
to  the  more  backward  states  of  the  American  Union,  namely,  the 
protective  tariff.  Whereas  a  single  state  with  advanced  labor 
legislation  cannot  protect  itself  against  the  cheap  labor  and 
long  workday  of  another  state,  the  entire  Union  is  able  through 
the  protective  tariff  to  restrict  the  competition  of  the  longer 
workdays  and  lower  wages  of  European  and  Asiatic  labor,  and 
thus  to  make  it  possible  to  raise  the  level  of  wages  and  to 
reduce  the  limit  of  hours  to  the  furthest  extent  that  domestic 
competition  will  permit.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  an  extreme 
reduction  of  hours,  while  not  a  menace  to  American  industry 
from  the  side  of  the  importation  of  cheap  products,  might  never- 
theless restrict  the  sales  of  American  products  abroad  in  compe- 
tition with  foreign  products.  While  the  extension  of  our  foreign 
trade  is  a  matter  to  be  cultivated  and  promoted,  it  does  not 
follow  that  this  should  be  encouraged  if  it  requires  low  wages 
and  a  long  workday  for  American  workmen.  .  .  . 


HOURS  OF  LABOR 


467 


SHORTER  WORKDAYS  THROUGH  LABOR  ORGANIZATION 

In  the  absence  of  legislation  the  only  effective  means  of 
securing  a  reduction  of  hours  is  through  labor  organization. 
This  is,  of  course,  the  method  by  which  in  recent  years  the 
most  significant  and  important  reductions  in  the  United  States 
have  been  secured.  The  concentration  of  effort  on  this  point 
for  the  past  fifteen  years  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
has  already  accomplished  notable  results.  The  general  effort, 
beginning  in  1886,  is  believed  to  have  reduced  the  day's  labor 
of  the  working  people  of  the  United  States  by  fully  one  hour. 
Where  the  hours  had  been  twelve,  they  were  reduced  to  eleven; 
where  they  had  been  eleven,  they  were  reduced  to  ten.1 

.  .  .  The  reports  of  the  New  York  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
since  1891  have  contained  complete  investigations  of  the  hours 
of  labor  of  organized  workmen  in  that  state.  The  following 
summary,  prepared  by  the  commissioner,2  shows  the  changes 
in  the  hours  which  have  taken  place. 


The  number  of  employees  fluctuated  between  186,003  in 
and  407,235  in  1899,  a  growth  partly  natural  and  partly  due  to  an 
increasing  number  of  establishments  reporting.  The  results  may  be 
summarized  as  follows  : 

PROPORTION  OF  EMPLOYEES  WORKING  THE  SPECIFIED  HOURS 
PER  DAY  (1891-1899) 


1891 

1892 

1893 

1894 

,895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

8  hours  or  less 

9-3% 

9-o% 

10-7% 

14.4% 

1  1.9% 

9-4% 

9-7% 

8.2% 

8.1% 

9  hours  .     .     . 

1  6.6 

16.5 

18.1 

17.8 

17.9 

20.3 

20.9 

22.2 

22.1 

10  hours     .     . 

72.2 

72-5 

69.2 

65.1 

67.9 

66.6 

65.5 

65.8 

66.1 

Over  10  hours 

1.9 

2.O 

2.O 

2.7 

2-3 

3-7 

3-9 

3-8 

3-7 

Total  .     .     . 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

I  00.0% 

While  the  proportion  of  employees  working  8  hours  or  less  has 
slightly  decreased  and  that  of  employees  working  more  than  10  hours 

1  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  VII,  p.  623. 

2  The  data  on  which  this  summary  is  based  are  found  in  the  report  of  the  New 
York  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  for  1900. 


468 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


has  slightly  increased,  the  important  change  has  been  the  growth  of 
the  Q-hour  group  at  the  expense  of  the  lo-hour  group ;  while  in  1891 
72.2  per  cent  of  the  employees  were  working  10  hours  a  day,  in  1899 
the  proportion  was  only  66.1,  and  in  the  same  period  the  percentage 
of  9-hour  workers  increased  from  16.6  to  22.1  per  cent.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  the  proportion  working  short  hours  (not  more  than  8) 
increased  temporarily  in  the  years  of  depression  (1893-1897). 

Very  considerable  differences  appear  between  New  York  City  and 
the  remaining  portion  of  the  state,  as  shown  by  the  following  table : 


New  York  City 

Remainder  of  the  State 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

8  hours  or  less  .  .  . 
Q  hours  

12.6% 
31.8 

2.5 

13-7% 

5'-3 

12.3% 

34-o 
50.6 

13-1% 
36.3 

48.0 

2.6 

6.8% 

"•3 

77.2 

4-7 

6-5% 

12.0 

77-0 

4-5 

4-9% 

12.6 

78.0 
4-5 

10.3 
81.0 
4.6 

10  hours  
Over  10  hours  .  .  . 

Total 

100.0% 

100.0% 

1  00.0% 

100.0% 

1  00.0% 

100.0% 

1  00.0% 

100.0% 

Not  only  do  the  proportions  in  the  two  parts  of  the  state  differ  in 
each  year,  but  the  tendencies  throughout  the  period  are  different. 
While  in  the  metropolis  the  relative  strength  of  the  lo-hour  group 
has  diminished  in  favor  of  9-hour  work,  in  the  interior  towns  the 
lo-hour  day  has  been  gaining  upon  the  g-hour  and  8-hour  days.  In 
1899  almost  exactly  one  half  of  the  employees  of  metropolitan  estab- 
lishments worked  9  hours  a  day  or  less,  while  the  corresponding  per- 
centage for  the  remainder  of  the  state  was  14.4.  The  differences, 
moreover,  exist  in  nearly  every  industry. 

The  contrasts  in  each  group  are  decidedly  noticeable  and  furnish 
a  conspicuous  illustration  of  the  power  of  organized  labor.  Although 
some  industries  are  not  strongly  organized  in  New  York  City,  —  as 
textiles,  for  example,  —  the  very  fact  that  8  or  9  hours  is  accepted  as 
the  limit  of  their  day's  toil  by  the  leading  workingmen  of  that  city 
has  a  natural  effect  in  establishing  that  as  a  part  of  the  body  of  cus- 
toms, traditions,  and  habits  that  go  to  make  up  the  local  standard  of 
life.  The  figures  for  Group  XII,  the  building  industry,  are  especially 
significant ;  they  show  that  90  per  cent  of  the  New  York  City  work 
people  in  those  trades  work  less  than  58  hours  a  week,  or  9^  hours 
a  day,  as  compared  with  50  per  cent  in  the  other  towns  of  the  state. 

Returning  now  to  the  figures  for  the  entire  state  for  the  earliest 
and  latest  years  of  the  period  1891  and  1899,  we  may  note  that  some 


HOURS  OF  LABOR 


469 


industries  have  not  shared  in  the  progressive  shortening  of  hours 
confirmed  in  the  first  table. 


PERCENTAGE  OF  EMPLOYEES  OF  MANUFACTURING  ESTABLISHMENTS  IN 
NEW  YORK  STATE  WORKING  THE  SPECIFIED  NUMBER  OF  HOURS 

DAILY    IN    JUNE,    1891    AND    1899 


GROUP  I 
Stone,  Pottery, 
Glass 

GROUP  II 

Metals, 
Machinery,  etc. 

GROUP  III 
Wood 

GROUP  IV 
Leather, 
Rubber,  etc. 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

8  hours  or  less  .     .     . 
9  hours     

10.6% 
17.1 

65-3 
7.0 

16.4% 

18.7 

58.7 

6.2 

4-2% 
IO.O 

84.8 

I.O 

4-8% 
^5-7 
76.9 

2.6 

0.8% 
18.7 
79-5 

I.O 

4.4% 
16.5 

76.9 

2.2 

6.6% 
23.8 
69-5 

O.I 

1.8% 
16.1 

82.0 

O.I 

Over  10  hours   .     .     . 

Total 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

• 

GROUP  V 
Chemicals, 
Oils,  etc. 

GROUP  VI 
Pulp  and  Paper 

GROUP  VII 
Printing  and 
Publishing 

GROUP  VIII 
Textiles 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

8  hours  or  less  .     .     . 
Q  hours 

8-9% 
25.0 

59-2 
6.9 

6.5% 
15-3 
72.5 

5-7 

i-7% 
4.1 
65.5 
28.7 

0.1% 
O.I 

66.3 

33-5 

7-7% 
22.2 
7O.O 
O.I 

12.8% 

53-9 
32-9 
0.4 

4-7% 
8.9 
86.3 
O.I 

3.1% 

10.5 

85.5 

0.9 

10  hours                  • 

Over  10  hours   .     .     . 

Total     

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

GROUP  IX 
Clothing, 
Millinery,  etc. 

GROUP  X 
Food,  Tobacco, 
Liquors 

GROUP  XI 
Public  Utilities 

GROUP  XII 
Building 

1891 

i899 

1891 

,899 

1891 

1899 

1891 

1899 

8  hours  or  less  .     .     . 
Q  hours 

10.8% 

35-3 

53-8 

O.I 

8-4% 

41-3 
50.2 

O.I 

36.3% 

'7-3 
42.0 
4.4 

13-5% 

16.8 
61.7 
8.0 

3-'% 

2.6 

75-5 
18.8 

12.4% 
1.4 
44.2 
42.0 

33-9% 
32.6 

33-4 

O.I 

544 
23.1 

21.6 

0.9 

10  hours 

Over  10  hours  .     .     . 

Total     

100.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

1  00.0% 

100.0% 

100.0% 

1  00.0% 

100.0% 

There  has  been  an  increase  in  the  average  working  time  in  the 
boot  and  shoe  industry  (Group  IV),  in  the  manufacture  of  chemicals 
and  the  refining  of  petroleum  (Group  V),  in  the  paper-making  indus- 
try. A  similar  increase  in  Group  X  is  partly  due  to  the  fact  that 


470         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

bakeries  and  breweries,  with  comparatively  long  hours,  were  more 
strongly  represented  in  1899  than  in  1891,  while  the  reports  of  cigar 
factories,  with  their  shorter  hours,  showed  a  relatively  small  increase 
in  the  number  of  employees.  One  of  the  noteworthy  changes  in  the 
way  of  reduction  of  hours  appears  in  the  printing  and  publishing 
industry;  whereas  70.1  per  cent  of  the  printers  worked  10  hours  or 
more  in  1891,  only  33.3  per  cent  had  those  hours  in  1899  —  and 
that  was  before  the  general  nine-hour  day  was  established  by  agree- 
ment between  national  associations  of  employers  and  employees. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  9667  employees  (2.4  per  cent  of  the  aggre- 
gate number)  were  reported  in  1899  as  working  regularly  more  than 
70  hours  a  week.  Of  these  2153  were  workmen  in  paper  mills,  a 
large  proportion  of  which  have  for  several  years  past  been  operated 
24  hours  a  day  or  72  a  week  for  each  if  two  shifts.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  the  employees  of  gas  companies  also  work  in  two  shifts  of 
12  hours  each,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  stationary  engineers  and 
firemen,  who  are  found  in  nearly  all  industries,  but  are  especially 
numerous  in  breweries.  Finally,  a  considerable  number  of  employ- 
ees of  railway  car  shops  work  seven  days  in  the  week,  thus  aggre- 
gating 70,  77,  or  even  84  hours  a  week. 


LEGISLATION  GOVERNING  HOURS  OF  LABOR 

While  the  efforts  of  labor  organizations  in  behalf  of  reason- 
able reduction  of  hours  are  in  general  to  be  commended,  it  is 
plain  that  they  cannot  be  expected  to  reach  all  classes  of  labor, 
nor  indeed  those  most  in  need  of  protection  in  this  regard.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  labor  unions  include  only  10  or  15  per 
cent  of  the  wage-earning  population.  They  do  not  include  to 
any  great  extent  women  and  children,  who  in  1890  constituted 
20  per  cent  of  the  employees  in  manufactures,  and  who,  on 
account  of  physical  weakness  or  immature  years,  stand  in  great- 
est need  of  reasonable  hours.  .  .  . 

Legislative  regulation  of  the  hours  of  labor  must  be  considered 
as  supplementary  to  regulation  by  private  contract  and  labor 
organization,  to  be  resorted  to  where  these  methods  fail  and 
where  there  is  evident  reason  for  the  reduction.  In  England 
and  in  America  it  has  generally  been  held  that  legislation 
reducing  the  number  of  working  hours  should  apply  only  to 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  471 

women  and  minors,  and  not  to  men.  The  latter  have  been  held 
to  be  better  able  to  care  for  themselves  and  to  secure,  through 
organization  or  otherwise,  the  improved  conditions  which  they\ 
demand.  But  women  and  children  have  been  considered  weaker  ) 
in  bargaining  and  more  in  need  of  legislative  protection.  There 
is  a  tendency  in  both  countries,  however,  to  depart  from  this 
view  and  to  legislate  for  men  as  well  as  for  women  in  the  reg- 
ulation of  hours.  While  such  legislation  has  not  as  yet  been 
actually  enacted  in  England,  it  has  been  adopted  in  Utah  and 
Wyoming  in  the  case  of  miners  and  smelters.  With  these  two 
exceptions,  the  legislation  of  American  states,  reducing  the 
hours  of  labor,  applies  only  to  women  and  minors.  Where  men 
work  in  the  same  factories  they  generally  get  the  advantage  of 
the  shorter  workday  of  the  women  and  children,  although  this 
is  not  always  so. 

The  problem  of  legislative  regulation  turns  upon  three  ques- 
tions :  practicability,  constitutionality,  uniformity. 

Practicability.  Legislation  respecting  hours  of  labor  stands 
upon  an  entirely  different  footing  from  legislation  respecting 
wages.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  devise  any  legislation 
which  will  effectively  maintain  a  minimum  rate  of  wages  for 
any  occupation,  or  for  the  country  at  large,  even  should  leg- 
islative interference  of  this  kind  seem  advisable.  Secret  eva- 
sion would  quickly  nullify  such  a  law.  But  legislation  setting 
a  maximum  to  the  number  of  hours  of  employment  can  be  so 
framed  and  administered  as  to  prevent  evasion.  It  must  be 
observed,  however,  that  reliance  cannot  be  placed  upon  pros- 
ecution of  the  employer  by  the  employee.  The  latter  is  in  a 
dependent  position,  and  the  implied  threat  of  discharge  is  too 
heavy  a  penalty  to  pay  for  a  doubtful  victory  in  a  legal  prose- 
cution. Such  a  prosecution  is  possible  only  where  the  em- 
ployee is  backed  by  a  strong  labor  organization ;  and  a  labor 
organization  strong  enough  to  prosecute  an  employer  under 
state  laws  is  strong  enough  to  secure  its  demands  without  the 
state  law.  Legislation  is  needed  only  where  organization  fails. 
This  being  so,  legislation  concerning  hours  requires  the  creation 
of  a  strong  force  of  factory  inspectors.  The  factory  inspector- 


472         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

is  the  public  prosecutor  of  violations  of  factory  laws.  The 
simple  provision  existing  in  the  laws  of  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  and  other  states,  requiring  that  the  employer  shall  post 
in  his  factory  the  hours  for  beginning  and  quitting  work  and 
the  interval  for  the  noonday  meal,  and  providing  penalties 
where  this  notice  is  not  posted,  makes  it  possible  for  the 
inspector  to  discover  by  his  own  inspection  whether  the  shop 
is  working  overtime  or  not.  With  this  simple  provision,  a 
factory  working  outside  the  posted  hours  is  prima  facie  violat- 
ing the  law,  and  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  factory  inspector 
should  call  in  the  employees  as  witnesses  and  subject  them  to 
the  danger  of  discharge.  The  inspector,  like  a  police  officer, 
becomes  his  own  witness,  with  the  most  conclusive  of  testi- 
mony. Where  the  legislation  respecting  hours  is  evaded,  as  it 
undoubtedly  is  in  some  cases  in  New  York  and  other  states,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  defect  lies  chiefly  in  the  failure  to 
enforce  the  provision  requiring  the  posting  of  hours  and  in 
the  necessity  of  summoning  the  employees  as  witnesses.  Some- 
times this  failure  is  excused  on  the  ground  that  the  require- 
ment is  a  mere  technicality,  and  that  it  .would  be  a  petty 
persecution  on  the  part  of  the  inspector  to  prosecute  for  every 
trifling  detail ;  but  in  the  enforcement  of  a  law  of  this  kind 
this  particular  technicality  is  all  important ;  and  if  it  is  intended 
to  enforce  the  law  at  all,  the  posting  of  the  hours  is  an  essen- 
tial condition  of  success. 

In  some  occupations,  like  the  manufacture  of  clothing  and 
notions,  it  is  often  possible  to  evade  the  short-hour  legislation 
by  requiring  employees  to  take  work  home  at  night,  and  where 
they  are  not  organized  they  are  afraid  to  refuse.  To  meet  this 
evasion  the  provisions  in  the  law  of  Massachusetts  and  other 
states  requiring  all  home  workers  to  have  a  license,  and  requir- 
ing also  that  the  employer  furnish  to  the  factory  inspector  a 
list  of  all  his  home  workers,  is  the  most  effective  device  yet 
enacted  into  law.  The  inspector  refuses  to  grant  licenses  for 
home  work  to  those  who  work  in  the  daytime  in  the  factory, 
on  the  ground  that  they  are  already  working  the  legal  limit 
and  that  to  take  work  home  at  night  would  be  an  evasion  of 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  473 

the  law.  Consequently,  the  inspector,  in  case  of  violation,  prose- 
cutes the  employer,  not  directly  for  sending  work  home  at 
night,  but  for  furnishing  work  to  unlicensed  home  workers.  A 
prosecution  on  the  former  account  would  require  testimony  of 
the  home  worker,  and  would  result  inevitably  in  connivance 
and  evasion.  A  prosecution  on  the  latter  account  requires  only 
careful  inspection  on  the  part  of  the  officer. 

The  foregoing  technical  details  are  noticed  to  show  the 
practicability  of  legislation  regarding  hours  of  labor  for  facto- 
ries and  mines.  It  does  not  follow  that  such  legislation  will  be 
practicable  for  farm  labor  or  for  home  workers.  Its  success 
depends  upon  the  existence  of  establishments  separate  from  the 
home.  Indeed,  legislation  of  this  character  is  justified  mainly 
by  the  existence  of  the  factory  system,  the  increased  intensity  of 
exertion,  the  injury  to  the  health  of  the  worker,  and  the  greater 
profitableness  of  labor  which  that  system  has  introduced. 

Constitutionality)-  .   .  . 

Uniformity.  The  serious  defect  in  legislation  regulating  the 
hours  of  labor  in  factories  is  found  in  the  lack  of  uniformity 
in  the  different  states.  Massachusetts  has  established  the  58- 
hour  week  for  women  and  children  in  factories.  The  adjoining 
state  of  New  York  places  the  limit  at  60  hours ;  New  Jersey 
at  55  hours;  Pennsylvania  at  60  hours ;  Wisconsin  at  48  hours, 
though  permitting  contracts  for  overtime;  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  at  66  hours;  others  at  60  hours  a  week.  There  are 
twenty-two  states  that  have  no  restrictions  for  adult  women, 
eighteen  that  have  no  restrictions  for  women  under  twenty-one, 
and  seventeen  that  have  no  restrictions  on  male  minors.  Utah 
and  Wyoming  are  the  only  states  that  limit  the  hours  of 
men,  and  this  applies  only  to  workers  in  smelters  and  under- 
ground mines. 

While  it  is  doubtless  true  that  within  limits  the  fewer 
hours  of  one  state  do  not  place  that  state  at  a  disadvantage, 
owing  to  the  greater  energy  which  fewer  hours  make  possible, 
yet  a  further  reduction  by  law  from  the  58  hours  of  Massachu- 
setts or  the  55  hours  of  New  Jersey  to,  say,  48  hours,  as  is  the 

1  See  Chapter  XXIII  for  decisions  of  courts  on  this  question.  —  ED. 


474         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

case  in  Australia,  seems  exceedingly  difficult  to  bring  about  as 
long  as  other  states  retain  a  maximum  as  high  as  60  or  66 
hours  and  still  other  states  have  no  restrictions  whatever.  A 
greater  degree  of  uniformity  of  legislation  on  this  point  is  an 
urgent  requirement.  After  an  experience  of  seventy  years  in 
England  and  nearly  thirty  years  in  Massachusetts,  together 
with  the  more  recent  experience  of  twenty  other  American 
states,  legislation  reducing  the  hours  of  women  and  minors  in 
factories  has  justified  itself  as  a  proper  action  for  any  civilized 
state.  It  is  true  that  local  differences  exist  in  the  climate  and 
other  conditions,  but  these  should  not  be  considered  decisive. 
Those  states  which  are  just  now  advancing  to  the  position  of 
manufacturing  communities  might  well  learn  from  these  ex- 
amples the  lesson  that  permanent  industrial  progress  cannot 
be  built  upon  the  physical  exhaustion  of  women  and  children. 
Factory  life  brings  incidentally  new  and  depressing  effects 
which  those  whose  experience  has  been  wholly  agricultural  do 
not  appreciate.  But  the  experience  of  states  which  have  pushed 
their  way  from  agricultural  to  manufacturing  industries,  and 
have  found  that  their  delay  in  protecting  their  factory  employees 
has  weakened  the  physical  and  moral  strength  of  the  new  gener- 
ation of  working  people,  would  seem  to  be  an  experience  which 
the  citizens  of  new  manufacturing  states  should  hope  to  avoid. 
A  reduction  in  hours  has  never  lessened  the  working  people's 
ability  to  compete  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  States  with 
shorter  workdays  actually  manufacture  their  products  at  a  lower 
cost  than  states  with  longer  workdays.  Several  witnesses 
before  the  Industrial  Commission,  both  manufacturers  and 
employees,  have  urged  a  national  law  reducing  the  hours  of 
women  and  children  in  factories  to  a  uniform  standard.  There 
is  evidence  that  the  demand  for  such  a  law  is  growing  in 
strength.  But  Federal  legislation,  with  the  attendant  force  of 
Federal  factory  inspectors,  is  objectionable.  Other  countries, 
even  Germany,  with  its  federal  form  of  government,  have  uni- 
form factory  laws  covering  all  parts  of  the  land  ;  but  it  has 
been  the  pride  of  the  American  Commonwealth  that  except 
in  great  emergency  no  state  should  be  coerced  to  do  that 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  475 

which  is  either  for  its  own  interest  or  for  the  interest  of  other 
states.  This  principle  is  sound,  but  it  cannot  be  overlooked 
that  those  states  which  profit  by  their  strategic  position  to 
hold  their  sister  states  below  the  level  of  humane  self-protec- 
tion demanded  by  modern  factory  conditions  are  storing  up 
against  themselves  feelings  of  resentment  and  retaliation.  It 
is  certainly  practicable  for  any  state  to  bring  its  hours  of  labor 
for  women  and  children  in  factories  down  to  the  standard  of 
55,  set  by  New  Jersey.  This  standard  is  near  that  of  our 
principal  competitor,  Great  Britain.  This,  at  least  for  the 
present,  should  be  the  standard  adopted  on  its  own  initiative 
by  every  state  that  enters  the  ranks  of  factory  production. 

FEDERAL  LEGISLATION 

While  in  manufactures  and  mining  the  regulation  of  hours 
belongs  to  the  several  states,  yet  in  transportation  the  inter- 
state character  of  the  industry  brings  the  subject  under  the 
powers  of  Congress.  The  policy  of  Congressional  action  depends 
upon  the  need  of  protecting  the  traveling  public  and  freight 
traffic,  and  the  inability  of  certain  classes  of  employees  to  organ- 
ize for  their  own  protection.  On  account  of  the  nature  of  train 
service  the  hours  of  railroad  employees  are  necessarily  irregular. 
A  certain  distance  must  be  covered  before  the  train  crew  can 
be  released,  and  the  time  required  may  be  short,  or,  under 
exceptional  circumstances,  may  be  exceedingly  long.  There  is, 
however,  a  very  general  tendency  of  railroad  managements  to 
bring  the  hours  of  trainmen  within  reasonable  limits,  and  the 
ten-hour  day  is  the  ideal  standard  established  by  agreement  for 
such  service.  The  principal  motive  actuating  the  management 
is  the  necessity  that  the  trainmen  should  be  wide-awake,  and 
this  acts  as  a  protection  against  unreasonable  demands;  at  the 
same  time,  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  railroad  unions  the 
workday  was  much  longer  than  at  present.  Even  now,  in 
the  case  of  the  unorganized  switchmen,  telegraphers,  trackmen, 
and  station  men,  the  hours  are  frequently  twelve  a  day,  and  in 
some  cases  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  During  the  summer,  when 


476         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

days  are  long,  trackmen  work  14  hours  on  many  roads.  In 
emergencies  all  these  employees  are  also  required  to  remain  on 
duty  much  longer  than  12  hours. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  trainmen  are  especially  responsible 
for  the  safety  of  the  traveling  public,  it  is  also  true,  as  stated 
by  the  president  of  a  leading  railroad,1  that  "of  the  20,000 
names  on  our  pay  roll  you  could  pick  out  very  few  who  do  not 
carry  the  lives  of  the  passengers  in  their  hands."  Telegraph 
operators  occupy  a  peculiarly  responsible  position  in  traffic 
operations,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  coroner's  jury 
to  ascribe  the  cause  of  a  railroad  wreck  to  the  negligence  of  a 
telegraph  operator  who  had  been  on  duty  for  an  excessive 
number  of  hours.  Railway  trackmen  are  the  poorest  paid  and 
hardest  worked  of  all  employees.  They  handle  heavy  material, 
such  as  cross-ties  and  steel  rails,  and  even  heavy  cars.  Both 
on  their  own  account  and  on  account  of  the  safety  of  the 
traveling  public,  the  hours  of  labor  of  these  unorganized  classes 
of  railway  employees  should  be  reduced  to  eight. 

The  legislation  of  the  several  states  affecting  the  hours  of 
employees  limits  such  hours  to  10  or  12,  and  in  five  states 
contracts  for  a  longer  time  are  invalid,  and  a  company  so  con- 
tracting is  liable  to  a  penalty.2  The  constitutionality  of  such 
statutes  can  now  probably  be  sustained  under  the  decision  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  on  the  Utah  mining  law. 
Railroad  labor,  however,  is  undoubtedly  covered  by  the  inter- 
state powers  of  Congress,  and  a  Federal  law  regulating  the 
hours  of  labor  would  be  constitutional.  The  limitation  of  con- 
tinuous runs  by  engineers  or  continuous  service  by  telegraph 
operators  or  switchmen  without  a  period  of  sufficient  rest,  as 
well  as  other  regulations  affecting  the  surroundings  and  dangers 
of  the  employment,  are  within  the  province  of  Congress.  The 
Industrial  Commission  has  recommended  that  Congress  enact 
a  code  covering  all  the  conditions  of  employment  of  railroad 
labor  throughout  the  United  States.  Such  a  code  would  have 
the  advantage  of  simplifying  the  conditions  throughout  the 

1  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  IV,  p.  288. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  V,  pp.  27,  28. 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  477 

country,  and  by  the  force  of  example  would  lead  the  states, 
it  is  hoped,  to  adopt  voluntarily  the  code  in  cases  where  Con- 
gress cannot  properly  interfere.  This  the  Commission  believes 
to  be  one  of  the  most  important  efforts  in  the  labor  interest  to 
which  the  attention  of  Congress  can  possibly  be  invited. 

SAILORS  AND  SEAMEN 

On  the  Great  Lakes  the  hours  of  seamen  are  excessive,  the 
men  working  12  hours  on  the  schooners,  and  occasionally  as 
high  as  30  hours  at  a  stretch  on  the  steamboats.  This  in- 
cludes 24  hours  of  all  kinds  of  labor,  followed  by  6  hours  steer- 
ing ;  they  then  get  6  hours'  rest,  and  again  6  hours  at  the 
wheel.  These  excessive  hours  are  ascribed  to  the  underman- 
ning  of  the  vessels,  which  condition,  besides  requiring  many 
hours,  is  also  unsafe  for  passengers  and  property.  It  is  stated 
that  in  other  countries  men  are  required  to  stand  at  the  wheel 
only  2  hours,  with  4  hours  off,  while  on  the  Great  Lakes  they 
are  required  to  stand  6  hours,  with  6  hours  off,  and  this  occurs 
very  often,  as  stated  above,  after  continuous  work  for  24  hours.1 
Water  transportation  comes  under  the  interstate  commerce  pow- 
ers of  Congress,  and  the  regulation  of  hours  and  the  requirement 
of  adequate  numbers  in  the  crew  are  matters  which  Congress 
is  fully  competent  to  deal  with. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR  ON  PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  PUBLIC 
CONTRACTS  2 

There  is  one  phase  of  legislation  affecting  the  hours  of  labor 
wherein  the  interests  of  private  employment  are  not  directly 
affected,  namely,  the  hours  of  workmen  employed  directly  by 
the  Federal,  state,  and  local  governments.  These  different 
governments  combined  are  undoubtedly  the  largest  employers 

1  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  403-408. 

2  See   also  Hearings  of  the  Committee  on  Labor,  House  of  Representatives, 
on  Eight-Hour  Bill,  February  15  to   March  29,   1900;    February  25  to  March 
29,  1902. 


478         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  labor  in  the  United  States,  and  whatever  labor  legislation 
is  enacted  affecting  them  has  relatively  important  weight  upon 
the  condition  of  the  working  people  in  general.  The  Fed- 
eral Government  has  been  the  pioneer  in  reducing  the  hours 
of  labor  of  its  employees.  In  1840,  at  a  time  when  in 
private  employment  n  or  12  hours  was  the  rule,  an  order  of 
the  President  provided  for  10  hours  in  all  public  employment ; 
and  again  in  1868,  after  private  employment  had  reached  the 
standard  of  10  hours,  Congress  reduced  the  hours  for  public 
employees  to  8.  Even  this  reduction  does  not  place  the  man- 
ual laborer  and  artisan  in  the  employment  of  the  Government 
on  the  same  basis  as  the  clerical  and  official  force,  for  whom 
the  hours  are  but  6J-  to  7^  a  day. 

State  governments  and  city  authorities  have  followed  the 
Federal  Government  in  the  adoption  of  the  eight-hour  day.  The 
first  city  to  introduce  this  reduction  was  New  York,  in  1870. 
At  the  present  time  there  are  eight  or  nine  states  which  pre- 
scribe the  eight-hour  day  for  all  labor  on  public  works,  whether 
in  the  employment  of  the  state  or  of  the  local  divisions. 

There  are  special  reasons  in  government  employment  whereby 
it  is  possible  to  advance  more  rapidly  in  the  reduction  of  hours 
than  is  the  case  in  private  employment.  The  government  in 
the  work  which  it  conducts  is  not  subject  to  foreign  or  domestic 
competition  ;  its  services  are  paid  from  taxes,  and  it  is  not  com- 
pelled to  dispose  of  its  products  at  a  market  price.  For  this 
reason  it  is  free  to  take  broader  views  of  its  obligations  to  its 
employees  than  those  taken  by  the  private  employer.  Its  action 
is  determined  more  by  the  ethical  and  political  standards  of  the 
public  than  by  the  competitive  conditions  of  industry.  In  this 
way  the  government  is  able  to  stand  before  the  industries  of 
the  country  as  a  model  employer.  Undoubtedly  the  example  of 
the  ten-hour  day  in  public  employment  had  some  influence  in 
bringing  private  employment  up  to  that  standard,  and,  again, 
the  lead  taken  by  Congress  and  by  the  state  and  local  govern- 
ments in  establishing  the  eight-hour  day  has  assisted  the  labor 
element  in  securing  whatever  of  that  reduction  in  private 
employment  they  have  been  able  to  bring  about. 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  479 

Besides  the  direct  employment  which  the  government  in  its 
several  branches  provides,  there  is  a  still  larger  amount  of 
indirect  employment  on  public  works,  and  in  the  manufacture 
of  goods  and  material,  which  is  conducted  through  contractors. 
It  was  not  until  1892  that  Congress  enacted  a  law  which 
extended  the  eight-hour  day  to  contractors  and  subcontractors 
upon  the  public  works  of  the  United  States  or  the  District  of 
Columbia.  Later  state  legislatures  have  taken  this  position, 
the  laws  on  that  subject  having  been  enacted  mainly  in  1899, 
although  the  law  of  Kansas  dates  from  1891  and  that  of 
Colorado  from  I894.1  The  efficiency  of  those  laws  is  not 
always  secured,  because  there  is  no  provision  for  their  enforce- 
ment through  a  state  official.  The  law  in  Kansas  was  a  dead 
letter  until  in  1898  the  legislature  placed  its  enforcement  in 
the  hands  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor. 

It  is  evident  that  without  the  extension  of  the  eight-hour  law 
to  public  contractors  the  government  is  at  a  disadvantage  in  a 
comparison  of  the  costs  of  production  in  those  enterprises 
which  are  operated  by  its  own  employees.  The  extension  of 
the  eight-hour  law  to  contractors  on  public  works  equalizes  the 
conditions  of  public  and  private  employment  in  those  branches 
where  work  is  done  partly  by  the  government  or  municipality 
and  partly  by  contractors.  This  discrepancy  has,  indeed,  led  to 
a  larger  proportionate  use  of  the  contract  system  than  was  the 
case  before  the  enactment  of  the  eight-hour  law.  Even  the  Fed- 
eral law  of  1892  does  not  bring  contractors  up  to  the  level  of 
government  employment,  since  it  is  defective  in  the  particular 
that  an  exception  is  made  in  cases  of  "extraordinary  emer- 
gency." The  character  of  the  emergency  is  not  described,  as 
is  usually  done  in  such  legislation  ;  and  consequently  con- 
tractors are  accustomed  to  employ  laborers  and  mechanics  for 
a  longer  period  than  eight  hours  and  to  certify  the  extra  hours 
as  due  to  "extraordinary  emergency."  Undoubtedly,  the  emer- 
gencies contemplated  in  the  act  are  those  only  of  fire,  flood,  or 
military  operations,  when  life  and  property  are  endangered. 
An  amendment  specifying  these  classes  of  emergencies  is 

1  Reports  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  V,  p.  25. 


480         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

necessary  in  order  that  the  law  of  1892  may  bring  about  the 
objects  intended,  and  may  place  contractors  on  public  works  on 
a  level  with  the  departments  which  conduct  their  work  through 
their  own  staff  of  employees.  The  law,  also,  is  not  interpreted 
in  such  a  way  as  to  regulate  the  hours  of  employees  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  actual  construction,  and  on  this  account,  while 
the  eight-hour  day  may  prevail  in  the  erection  of  a  customhouse 
or  post  office,  the  stone  may  be  cut  in  another  state  on  the 
nine-hour  or  ten-hour  system. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  law  of  1892  applies  only  to  public 
works,  and  not  to  goods  or  material  furnished  to  the  govern- 
ment. It  applies  only  to  such  constructions  as  fortifications, 
breakwaters,  public  buildings,  and  so  on.  The  government  is 
also  a  purchaser  through  contract  of  a  large  quantity  of  army  and 
navy  equipment,  vessels  of  war,  clothing,  boots  and  shoes,  and 
so  forth.  It  is  perhaps  true  that  the  reasons  for  applying  the 
eight-hour  day  to  contractors  on  public  works  are  stronger  than 
those  which  would  apply  the  same  to  contractors  on  goods  or 
material  manufactured  for  the  government.  It  is  objected  that 
a  law  of  this  kind  would  require  public  authorities  to  trace  the 
material  purchased  by  contractors  back  to  the  original  manu- 
facturers, and  from  the  original  manufacturers  back  to  the  raw 
material  extracted  from  the  soil  or  brought  up  from  the  mines. 
This  objection  is  certainly  fatal  to  a  measure  which  does  not 
make  exception  of  all  material  purchased  upon  the  open  market. 
It  has  been  decided  by  the  Attorney-General  that  the  act  of 
1892,  providing  for  eight  hours  on  public  works,  does  not  apply 
to  material  purchased  by  contractors,  but  applies  solely  to  the 
employees  under  the  immediate  direction  of  such  contractors 
or  subcontractors.  The  same  distinction  should  unquestionably 
be  made  in  any  legislation  providing  for  the  eight-hour  day  upon 
goods  or  material  manufactured  under  contract  for  government 
use. 

More  weighty,  however,  than  this  objection  is  that  which 
holds  that  if  manufacturers  are  compelled  to  work  only  eight 
hours  on  government  work  they  will  be  compelled  to  reduce  the 
hours  on  private  contracts  to  the  same  number.  Contracts  for 


HOURS  OF  LABOR  481 

goods  and  material  are  made  by  establishments  manufacturing 
for  the  general  market,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  sepa- 
rate their  government  contracts  from  their  private  contracts. 
Doubtless  the  effect  of  such  legislation  would  be  extensive.  It 
would  apply  to  all  vessels  of  war,  all  clothing  and  boots  and 
shoes  manufactured  for  the  army,  and  all  army  and  navy 
equipment.  The  probable  number  of  employees  affected  in 
these  industries  cannot  be  predicted ;  but  it  is  probable  that 
such  legislation  would  bring  about  at  first  a  specialization  of 
factories  for  public  work.  This  might  involve  somewhat  higher 
prices  paid  by  the  government  than  those  paid  by  private  pur- 
chasers ;  but  as  a  practical  means  for  promoting  the  adoption 
of  eight  hours  throughout  the  industries  of  the  country  such  a 
measure  would  unquestionably  have  wider  and  more  beneficial 
effect  than  any  other  that  could  be  adopted  by  Congress.  Such 
a  bill,  reducing  the  hours  of  labor  on  all  government  contracts 
to  eight  hours  per  day,  was  introduced  in  the  Fifty-Sixth  Con- 
gress and  passed  the  House,  but  failed  in  the  Senate. 


XXII    S 
MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION1 

ECONOMIC  EFFECTS 

Tax  on  Production.  Given  this  series  of  laws2  acting  upon 
manufacturing  interests,  the  first  question  before  the  economist 
is  :  Have  they  been  a  tax  upon  the  productive  power  of  Massa- 
chusetts ?  The  laws  deal  with  (i)  Child  Labor,  (2)  Hours  of 
Labor  for  Women  and  Minors,  (3)  Sanitation  and  Safety,  (4) 
The  Employment  Contract  and  the  Employer's  Liability  for 
Injury  to  Employees,  and  (5)  Wage  Payments.  Of  these  we 
may  disregard  the  expenses  imposed  by  safety  and  sanitary 
requirements ;  for  employers  themselves  recognize  such  as 
incumbent  upon  them,  law  or  no  law ;  while  for  many  years 
now  no  complaints  of  injustice  or  caprice  in  the  orders  of 
inspectors  have  been  made.  It  would  also  be  idle  calculation 
from  the  practical  point  of  view  to  attempt  to  place  a  money 
value  upon  the  results  of  restrictions  upon  child  labor,  which 
nevertheless  tend  to  narrow  the  supply  of  cheap  workers.  But 
the  statutes  concerning  the  employer's  liability  for  injury 
sustained  by  an  employee,  the  requirement  of  weekly  wage 
payment,  and  above  all  the  shortened  hours  of  labor  have 
been  loudly  denounced  as  burdensome  taxation  and  deserve 
careful  consideration. 

The  first  two  regulations  are  of  minor  importance.  Under 
the  statute  which  extends  and  defines  somewhat  more  broadly 

1  From  Supplement  to  the  Annals,  American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  Jan- 
uary, 1901,  pp.  35-78.    See  also  S.  N.  D.  North,  "  Factory  Legislation  in  the  United 
States,"  etc.,  Bulletin  of  the  National  Association  of  Wool  Manufacturers,  Vol. 
XXV,  1895,  pp.  208-271;  Webb,  The  Case  for  the  Factory  Acts,  1901   (Great 
Britain) ;  Hutchins  and  Harrison,  A  History  of  Factory  Legislation,  1903. 

2  A  review  of  the  laws  referred  to  is  found  on  pages  I  to  35  of  the  Supplement, 
as  cited  in  preceding  footnote. 

482 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  483 

the  common-law  principle  of  employer's  liability,  it  has  become 
very  generally  the  custom  to  take  out  a  new  form  of  special 
accident  insurance  to  cover  the  risk  which  these  more  definite 
obligations  impose.  This  has,  therefore,  raised  the  manufac- 
turers' fixed  charges  by  an  inconsiderable  percentage.  The  law 
leaves  decisions  of  fact  largely  to  the  jury,  and  while  em- 
ployers acknowledge  the  enactment  to  be  commendable,  they 
have  had  some  reason  for  complaint  on  account  of  verdicts 
rendered  more  upon  grounds  of  mercy  toward  the  unfortunate 
than  of  justice  toward  the  responsible. 

As  regards  the  regulation  of  the  method  of  paying  wages, 
weekly  payments  have  so  increased  the  office  work  in  many 
establishments  that  additional  clerks  have  been  required  to 
perform  it,  and  the  old  method  of  receipt  taking  has  been 
abandoned  as  too  time  consuming.  There  is  advanced  also  the 
claim  that  business  concerns  are  themselves  obliged  to  give 
long  credits  on  orders  received,  which  make  such  weekly  cash 
payments  on  their  part  decidedly  inconvenient,  if  not  actually 
burdensome. 

These  expenses  appear,  however,  of  but  slight  consideration 
when  compared  with  the  ever-resisted  mandate  of  shortened 
hours  of  labors.  The  whole  battle  of  the  labor  movement 
centers  in  this  issue.  On  one  side  stands  the  claim  that  the 
increased  efficiency  both  in  labor  and  management,  the  higher 
speed  of  machinery,  and  so  forth,  which  are  forced  upon  pro- 
ducers fully  compensate  —  and  more  than  compensate  —  for  the 
loss  of  time.  To  this  is  opposed  the  charge  that  such  legisla- 
tion has  already,  without  corresponding  compensation,  so  taxed 
Massachusetts'  manufacturers  that  they  cannot  compete  with 
like  industries  in  other  places.  Curtailment  of  hours  tends  to 
make  fixed  charges  assume  undue  proportion  ;  it  effectually 
reduces  the  volume  of  machine  output. 

The  facts  adducible  in  support  of  these  conflicting  views  may 
be  briefly  reviewed.  The  short-hour  movement  had  been  long 
gathering  strength  before  it  received  legislative  recognition  in 
the  ten-hour  law  of  1874.  So  determined  had  been  the  efforts 
of  Fall  River  unions  to  secure  the  concession  that  many  of 


484         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  mills  there,  rather  than  risk  warfare  at  a  profitable  season, 
did  institute  a  ten-hour  system  in  1867,  which  lived  for  some 
twenty-one  months.  These  experiments  furnished  a  few  statis- 
tics bearing  on  the  issue,  which  may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 

American  Linen  Company 

1868,  6  wks.  10  hrs.  average  product,  32.23  yds.  a  \oomper  diem, 

1869,  "     "      ii   "  "  "          37-14    " 

Loss  due  to  shorter  day  10+  per  cent. 

Granite  Mills 

1867,  10  hrs.  product,  3861  pieces  a  week. 

1869,  ii    "  "        4350      " 

1870,  ii    "  "         4356      " 

Loss  due  to  shorter  day  10+  per  cent. 

Union  Mills 

1867  (304!  days)  10  hrs.  product,  average  36,210  yds./<?r  diem. 
1869  (2o8|     "    )  ii    "  "         39,984   " 

Loss  due  to  shorter  day  10  +  per  cent. 

Merchants''  Manufacturing  Company 

5  wks.  10  hrs.,  593  hands  produced  1,125,000  yds.,  earned  $20,294. 
5    "      ii     "      486     "  "         1,495,351    "  "        21,441.90. 

1 1  hrs.  running  at  reduced  prices. 

Loss  due  to  shorter  day  10+  per  cent. 

Atlantic  Mills,  Lawrence 
First  Account. 

lo-hour  system  since  1867.    Increased  speed  5  per  cent. 

Strict  time  regulations  enforced. 

New  machinery  from  time  to  time. 

First  two  years,  product  diminished  5  per  cent. 

1871,  stock  at  a  low  figure. 

Dividend  small.1 

Second  Account. 

lo-hour  system  since  1867.    Increased  speed  "  a  little." 

"  At  first "  lost  5  per  cent. 

After  \\  years  product  ''equal  to  what  it  had  been  under  n-hour 

system." 

1871,  product  as  great  as  under  1 2-hour  system. 
Same  help,  machinery,  and  class  of  goods. 

1  M.  F.  J.    Dickinson,  "Argument  against  Ten-Hour  Bill,"   1871.     Hearing 
before  Legislative  Labor  Committee,  p.  17  (pamphlet). 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  485 

Mr.  Dickinson  shows  no  mill  conducted  on  the  eleven-hour 
system  in  the  same  class  of  goods  doing  any  better  than  the 
Atlantic  Mills.1 

In  the  matter  of  figures  employers  have  the  bookkeeper's 
advantage.  The  cases  here  cited  do  not  at  all  exhaust  the  list 
which  employers  bring  forward,  whereas  I  have  been  able  to 
find  only  one  or  two  such  examples  given  upon  the  other  side. 
Nor  have  I  seen  these  figures  anywhere  seriously  questioned. 
It  is  noticeable,  however,  that  the  eleven-hour  years  chosen  for 
comparison  were  not  those  which  preceded  the  ten-hour  experi- 
ment, but  in  each  case  those  which  followed  upon  it.  Such 
selection  might  suggest  advantages  in  the  later  years  of  such 
improved  machinery  or  methods  as  experience  had  shown  to  be 
useful.  The  margin  of  difference  between  the  amounts  allows 
some  scope  for  reductions  on  this  score  without  very  materi- 
ally altering  their  bearing  upon  the  point  at  issue.  The  action 
of  the  mill  owners  was  consistent  with  the  figures  when,  after 
this  experiment  had  been  continued  for  twenty-two  months, 
they  returned  to  the  old  hours.  The  evidence  given  prevailed 
to  stave  off  legislative  action  for  several  years. 

After  the  passage  of  the  ten-hour  law  in  1874  we  have  again 
a  period  which  ought  to  furnish  some  interesting  comparative 
statistics.  Although  inoperative  over  the  state  as  a  whole, 
inspectors  had  some  opportunities  to  note  the  effects  in  cases 
of  compliance.  In  his  report  for  1878  the  Chief  of  Police 
inserts  an  extract  from  the  letter  of  a  Massachusetts  mill 
owner  as  an  example  of  the  results  which  his  department  had 
observed. 

From  the  means  of  comparison  we  have  (mills  in  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  with  equal  quality  of  machinery  and  the  same  grade 
of  goods)  we  find  the  production  of  mills  per  set  to  be  as  the  hours 
of  labor ;  that  is,  a  set  of  machinery  running  ten  hours  per  day  will 
not  turn  out  more  than  ten  elevenths  as  many  yards  of  the  same 
grade  of  goods  as  one  running  eleven  hours,  but  rather  a  small  frac- 
tion less.  .  .  .  There  is  in  Connecticut  a  saving  over  Massachusetts 

1  Charles  Cowley,  "Argument  for  Petitioners  in  Ten-Hour  Bill,"  187 1 .  Hearing 
before  Legislative  Labor  Committee,  p.  5  (pamphlet). 


486         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  $2157  per  annum,  or  more  than  9  per  cent  on  expenses  common 
to  both  mills.  ...  In  mills  where  longer  hours  reign  there  will  be 
a  small  margin  of  profit  when  those  of  Massachusetts  have  none  or 
are  losing  money. 

The  report  goes  on  to  say  that  a  tour  in  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut  showed  manufacturers  in  these  states  to  be  using 
the  most  improved  machinery  and  methods  eleven  hours  daily 
with  no  apparent  injury  to  the  health  of  the  operatives,  being 
happy  in  their  advantage  over  some  Massachusetts  competitors. 
The  Chief  in  his  report  declares  himself  fearful  of  the  conse- 
quences of  the  law  if  thoroughly  enforced. 

Examining  a  report  a  few  years  later,  when  efforts  to  enforce 
this  measure  were  meeting  with  decidedly  better  success,  we 
read  :  "  Results  have  shown  the  wisdom  of  such  legislation."  l 
And  again  :  "A  mass  of  facts  had  been  collected  in  this  and 
other  countries  tending  to  show  that  no  ultimate  decrease  of 
production  or  of  profits  thereon  would  follow  if  the  number  of 
hours  were  lessened  ;  lapse  of  time  has  only  strengthened  these 
convictions."  2  A  case  is  here  also  given  of  an  unnamed  manu- 
facturer who  reduced  his  time  from  sixty-six  to  sixty  hours  per 
week  and  "  at  the  end  of  six  months  found  his  product  increased 
nearly  10  per  cent,  and  the  quality  of  the  work  done  more 
perfect." 

In  1883  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  made  a  careful 
study  of  profits  and  earnings  in  Massachusetts,  and  drew  a 
comparison  between  the  years  1875  and  1880  on  these  lines.3 
The  study  concludes  : 

Examination  of  the  tables  shows  falling  off  in  the  percentage  of 
gross  profits  in  1880  as  compared  with  1875.  In  tne  state  tn*s  *a^ 
is  7.17  per  cent;  in  Boston,  14.89  per  cent;  in  the  state,  excluding 
Boston,  4.91  per  cent.  In  the  state  in  1880  percentage  of  stock  used 
had  advanced  11.52  per  cent;  wages  had  been  cut  down  4.35  per 
cent ;  expenses  had  increased  .02  per  cent ;  and  net  profits  had 

1  Massachusetts  Police  Report,  Inspection,  1882,  p.  15. 

2  Ibid.,  1887,  p.  18. 

8  Although  passed  in  1874,  the  ten-hour  law  was  not  well  in  operation  until 
after  1879. 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  487 

fallen  off  7.19  per  cent.  In  other  words  stock  used  cost  11.52  per 
cent  more  in  1880  than  in  1875.  To  counterbalance  this  wages 
were  cut  down  4.35  per  cent  and  manufacturers  lost  7.19  per  cent, 
or  11.54  per  cent.  If  we  deduct  increase  in  expenses,  .02  per  cent, 
we  secure  11.52  per  cent  as  net  loss  to  employers  and  employees. 

Boston  stock  cost  18.29  per  cent  more  in  1880  than  in  1875  ;  of 
this  the  employees  bore  3.40  per  cent,  the  employers  14.53  per  cent, 
while  36  per  cent  was  gained  on  expenses.1 

We  must  not,  of  course,  make  the  error  of  attributing  this 
to  short-hour  legislation  as  a  chief  cause ;  nor  in  any  event 
must  too  great  weight  be  placed  upon  the  testimony  of  such 
averages ;  nevertheless  the  figures  are  of  interest,  as  they  cor- 
roborate other  authority. 

Continuing  the  search  after  evidence,  we  may  add  here  a  few 
later  statements  of  comparative  costs.  These  are  taken  after 
the  reduction  of  hours  in  1892  (c.  357)  to  fifty-eight  weekly. 

A  Rhode  Island  mill  of  two  thousand  looms  can  produce  twenty 
thousand  yards  per  week  more  of  printed  cloth  than  one  in  Massa- 
chusetts, as  the  difference  between  fifty-eight  and  sixty  hours  per 
week.2 

The  Everett  Mills  have  plants  both  in  Massachusetts  and 
Maine.  Alike  in  equipment  and  grade  of  product  and  under 
identical  management,  the  returns  made  were  as  follows  : 

In  Maine,  working  eleven  and  a  half  hours  per  day,  the  mills 
earned  a  dividend  at  a  time  when  the  Massachusetts  branch, 
working  ten  hours,  was  compelled  to  reorganize.  Repeated 
comparisons  all  show  that  longer  hours  result  in  proportionally 
larger  earnings.3 

The  Tremont  and  Suffolk  Mills  are  in  very  close  competition 
with  the  Nashua  Mills  of  New  Hampshire,  and  it  was  affirmed 
that  the  increased  product  of  sixty  hours  per  week  (over  fifty- 
eight)  would  mean  to  the  former  $50,000  per  annum.4 

1  Report  of  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.    Profits  and  Earnings, 
1883,  p.  372. 

2  Quoted  from  the  Boston  Commercial  Bulletin,  in  Bulletin  of  Wool  Manufac- 
turers^ September,  1895,  P-  2*M>  note. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  266. 

*  A.  S.  Covel  before  Legislative  Labor  Committee,  1898. 


488         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Dividends  of  the  Lowell  Manufacturing  Company  for  fifteen  years, 
from  1 88 1  to  1895,  have  averaged  a  trifle  under  4  per  cent.  Money 
could  not  have  been  hired  at  that  rate  during  the  period.1 

Southern  mills  opened  by  Northern  capital,  in  several  cases 
as  "  dependencies  "  of  Massachusetts  corporations,  earned  divi- 
dends upon  their  capital  stock  during  1897,  while  the  Northern 
ones  failed  to  do  so.2 

The  cotton  mills  are  the  chief  but  not  the  only  complainers. 
The  fifty-eight-hour  requirement  bears  heavily  upon  smaller, 
spasmodic  trades,  such  as  confectionery,  straw  plaiting,  and 
millinery.  Dealers  claim  that  at  holiday  seasons  and  at  other 
times  of  temporarily  increased  demand  they  lose  good  business 
orders  through  inability  to  fill  them  in  the  short  hours  allowed 
by  law  or  to  get  new  help  for  night  work.  The  clause  which 
restricts  the  making  up  of  time  lost  to  loss  within  "  the  same 
week  "  (not  within  seven  days)  brings  pressure  and  annoyance 
upon  such  businesses  as  laundries,  where  orders  tend  to  crowd 
during  the  first  of  the  week. 

I  have  been  unable  to  find  any  figures  in  Massachusetts 
which  oppose  these  contrary  results.  The  two  cases  generally 
cited  are  the  Atlantic  Mills  already  referred  to  and  the  Harris 
Mills,  a  voluntary  experiment  in  the  ten-hour  system,  at  Woon- 
socket,  Rhode  Island.  The  Harris  Mills  manufactured  a  high 
grade  of  cloth  goods  which  met  almost  no  competition. 

The  argument  in  rebuttal,  without  means  of  statistical  proof, 
throws  doubt  on  the  statements  given  above.  Reference  is  made 
to  the  cases  of  voluntary  reduction  to  eleven  hours  in  1853  at  Low- 
ell, Lawrence,  and  Fall  River.  There,  during  the  eight  years 
which  elapsed  before  the  regime  became  general,  no  attendant  ab- 
straction of  capital  appeared,  but  there  was  a  constant  growth.3 

Statement  is  also  made  that  during  the  twenty-one  months  of 
experiment  at  Fall  River  "  that  city  outstripped  all  competitors." 

1  A.  T.  Lyman  before  Legislative  Labor  Committee,  1898. 

2  See  testimony  of  Mr.  Lovering  and  of  A.  T.  Lyman  before  Legislative  Labor 
Committee,  1898. 

3  G.  E.  McNeill,  before  Labor  Committee  on  repeal  of  Ten-Hour  Bill,  1879, 
p.  4  (pamphlet). 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  489 

Again,  when  an  attempt  was  made  in  1879  to  repeal  the  ten- 
hour  law  enacted  the  previous  year,  action  did  not  proceed 
from  Fall  River,  "nor  Lowell,  nor  Lawrence,  nor  Holyoke, 
nor  Chicopee,  nor  New  Bedford,  but  from  West  Boylston,  Sut- 
ton,  Suncook,  and  Edward  Atkinson,"  —not  from  the  great 
centers  of  industry,  but  from  comparatively  unimportant  quar- 
ters and  was  instigated  by  "an  agitator."  1 

The  chief  criticism  upon  these  claims  is  that  they  apply  to 
the  cotton  industry  at  a  time  when  it  easily  held  a  monopoly, 
and  when  a  tax  no  more  considerable  than  that  imposed  by  this 
shortening  of  hours  would  hardly  be  sufficient  to  injure  its 
growth.  Yet  even  the  reduction  to  eleven  hours  had  been  con- 
sidered by  employers  more  as  a  concession  to  labor  agitation 
than  as  an  economic  measure.  Concerning  the  Fall  River  ex- 
periment, statements  to  be  balanced  against  this  claim  have 
been  given  above.  .  .  . 

How  far  do  other  effects  of  these  laws  tend  to  offset  this 
burden  ?  Two  results  are  generally  admitted. 

1.  Restrictive  labor  laws  stimulate  to  greater  speed  and  to 
other  improvements  in  machinery  and  management. 

2.  They  increase  the  efficiency  of  labor. 

Every  reduction  of  hours  thus  far  has  been  followed  immedi- 
ately by  the  speeding  of  machinery ;  by  imposing  stricter  time 
regulations;  by  introducing  special  discipline  in  "gang  work," 
so  that  time  may  not  be  lost  to  a  whole  shift  through  the  fault 
of  a  single  member,  and  so  forth  ;  eventually  by  the  replace- 
ment of  old  machines  by  new  ones  of  greater  capacity  requir- 
ing usually  fewer  operatives  to  tend  them  ;  and  also  by  such 
further  changes  in  management  or  methods  as  can  be  devised 
to  accomplish  saving.  This  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of 
employers,  laborers,  and  inspectors. 

By  these  means  the  old  volume  of  production  has  been 
regained.  Statistics  of  manufacture  show  production  to  be 
advancing  in  Massachusetts,  as  elsewhere,  in  spite  of  the  odds 
against  it.  The  disturbing  thought  to  Massachusetts  is  that 

1  G.  E.  McNeill,  before  Labor  Committee  on  repeal  of  Ten-Hour  Bill,  1879, 
p.  16  (pamphlet). 


490        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

although  her  manufacturers  are  forced  into  the  lead  in  making 
improvements,  and  leadership  often  involves  costly  as  well  as 
successful  experimentation,  her  rivals  very  quickly  fall  into  line. 
Equipment  in  neighboring  states  is  equally  up  to  date,  and  this 
holds  good  very  generally  even  of  the  Southern  cotton  mills. 
Where  Northern  enterprise  and  capital  have  lately  established 
themselves  in  the  South  it  is  claimed  that  the  mills  are  even 
better  equipped,  having  had  no  old  machinery  too  costly  to  be 
lightly  put  aside  in  favor  of  the  new. 

Concerning  the  increase  in  efficiency  through  increased 
leisure,  there  has  been  much  loos^  and  unprofitable  debate. 

Where  hours  were  originally  excessive  reductions  were  to 
employees  a  physical  benefit  which  told  in  greater  vigor  of 
work.  Note  the  traditional  effect  of  reductions  from  the 
twelve-hour  and  fourteen-hour  day  to  the  eleven-hour  system. 
It  was  a  policy  followed  by  employers  as  a  concession  to  labor 
not  in  the  end  disadvantageous  to  their  own  interests. 

Again,  cases  are  cited  in  connection  with  the  ten-hour  reduc- 
tion, where  the  full  quota  of  work  was  accomplished  in  the 
restricted  day.  These  instances  are  almost  invariably  found  in 
departments  most  purely  dependent  upon  manual  labor,  as  in 
the  Holyoke  thread  mills,  in  "  drawing  in  "  for  the  cotton  web, 
in  cigar  shops,  and  so  forth.  In  machine  work  speeding  the 
machinery  does,  of  course,  set  a  somewhat  higher  work  require- 
ment upon  the  tender,  in  this  sense  increasing  efficiency,  but 
the  product  depends  most  intimately  upon  the  speed  of  the 
machine  as  the  determining  factor. 

Of  the  several  labor  leaders  consulted  not  one  has  held 
that  the  ordinary  factory  operative  succeeds  in  accomplish- 
ing the  same  amount  of  work  in  a  ten-hour  day  or  fifty-eight- 
hour  week  as  he  did  before  in  eleven  hours  or  in  the  sixty-hour 
week. 

The  fact  appears  to  be  that  the  stimulus  of  "piece  wage" 
has  effectually  eradicated  the  lazy  employee,  while  working 
hours  were  already  short  enough  to  prevent  exhaustion  in  ordi- 
nary cases.  The  exchange  of  fifty-eight  for  sixty  hours  has 
certainly  effected  but  infinitesimal  changes  in  efficiency. 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  491 

Compared  with  the  labor  of  adjoining  states,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  Massachusetts  labor  stands  appreciably  higher  in 
skill.  Compared  with  Southern  labor  the  cotton  mills'  reports 
bring  astonishing  evidence  of  operatives,  new  to  the  occupa- 
tion, working  very  long  hours  and  manipulating  machinery 
running  at  a  speed  closely  approximating  that  of  the  mills  of 
Fall  River  and  Lowell. 

The  Southern  labor  is  of  sound  mountain  American  stock, 
while  a  large  proportion  of  Northern  operatives  are  short- 
resident  foreigners.  This  fact  is  often  forgotten  in  making 
comparisons  between  the  two  sections.  The  heterogeneous 
character  of  Northern  mill  hands  appears  from  the  following 
extract  from  the  report  of  the  labor  committee  in  1898  on 
reduction  of  wages. 

In  1895  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  cotton  mills  in 
Fall  River  was  about  22,398.  Of  this  number  15,823  were  foreign 
born.  Places  of  birth  were  as  follows. 

Canada  (English) 217  Portugal 587 

Canada  (French) 6056  Prince  Edward  Island     ....  25 

England 6073  Scotland 344 

Germany 64  Sweden 19 

Ireland 2130  Other  foreign  countries  ....  274 

New  Brunswick 13 

Nova  Scotia 21                                                                15,823 

We  think  this  is  fairly  representative  of  the  foreign  born  at  work 
in  the  other  cotton  centers.1 

Massachusetts  labor  laws  have  certainly  acted  to  induce  care 
in  methods  and  to  encourage  the  introduction  of  improved 
machinery.  Beyond  exacting  a  more  constant  attention  to 

1  The  Twelfth  Census,  Occupations,  pp.  303-307,  gives  the  following  figures 
for  cotton-mill  operatives  in  Massachusetts.  —  ED. 


Males 

Females 

I  Q2C 

2  O4? 

8,840 

IO,O24 

Foreign  white           

28,092 

25,84* 

Aggregate  white                 .                             .                             .          . 

18  866 

•J7  -QI2 

492 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


work,  however,  they  apparently  have  not  increased  the  produc- 
tive efficiency  of  the  normal  machine-tending  operative.  More- 
over the  figures  of  manufacturers  above  presented  include  all 
of  these  factors  which  are,  indeed,  quite  inextricable  from  the 
general  problem.  Conclusions,  therefore,  remain  the  same. 

INVESTMENT 

Has  this  tax  imposed  by  labor  legislation,  then,  operated  to 
discourage  investment  in  Massachusetts  ?  It  is  unequivocally 
stated  that  "vast  sums  of  Massachusetts  capital  have  gone  to 
other  New  England  states,  driven  away  chiefly  by  adverse  con- 
ditions created  by  legislation."1  There  has  been  growth,  but 
in  "unmistakably  reduced  ratio,"  and  this  is  due  to  "public 
knowledge  of  restrictions  and  limits  greater  here  than  in  any 
other  state,"  constituting  "a  direct  discrimination  against  capi- 
tal, against  labor,  and  against  the  material  development  of  the 
state."2  "The  result  of  isolation3  .  .  .  was  visible  in  the  more 
rapid  development  of  competing  industries  in  neighboring  states, 
notably  in  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  Maine."4 

"  Upon  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  law  both  foreign  and 
domestic  capital  opened  new  textile  industries  in  the  United 
States  ;  none  of  any  importance  chose  to  locate  in  Massachu- 
setts. They  went  to  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  and  New  York."5 

These  statements  are  put  in  a  tone  of  conviction  and  authority. 
But  there  is  neither  proof  nor  legitimate  protest  in  the  misty 
realm  of  "it  might  have  been." 

Problem  :  Given  a  sum  of  floating  capital  in  a  world  full  of 
inviting  industrial  ventures,  determine  the  point  at  which  it 
will  fall.  Did  ever  an  economist  solve  equations  that  involved 
a  like  proportion  of  unknown  quantities,  or  seek  to  trace  a  curve 

1  Bulletin  of  Wool  Manufacturers,  September,  1895,  pp.  261-262. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  264. 

3  In  1880  Massachusetts  was  the  only  state  in  which  the  ten-hour  day  prevailed. 
She  is  still  the  only  state  where  short-hour  laws  are  well  enforced. 

4  Ibid.,  September,  1895,  p.  234. 
6  Ibid.,  June,  1891,  p.  107. 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  493 

of  so  many  dimensions  ?  The  "  vast  sums  "  that  might  have 
settled  in  Massachusetts  it  would  be  vain  for  us  to  seek ;  nor 
should  we  speculate  too  freely  on  what  might  have  become  of 
"  other  New  England  states  "  if  Massachusetts  labor  legisla- 
tion had  not  "driven"  that  capital  to  them.  Their  common- 
place growth,  as  shown  in  tables  of  statistics,  should  allow 
Massachusetts  to  be  magnanimous  upon  this  point. 

The  "  unmistakably  reduced  ratio  "  of  growth  in  Massachu- 
setts and  the  "more  rapid  growth  of  competing  industries  in 
other  states  "  may  be  verified  or  disproved  by  statistics.  It  is 
a  textile  bulletin  that  makes  the  statement ;  it  is  the  textile 
industry  which  is  most  evidently  a  "competing  industry  in 
other  states."  We  may,  therefore,  very  properly  take  our  fig- 
ures from  its  history.1  .  .  . 

These  figures  certainly  do  not  indicate  that  the  Massachu- 
setts cotton  industry  was  lagging  as  compared  with  that  of  her 
neighbors  ;  if  not  the  cotton  industry,  we  may  be  assured  that 
no  other  was.  Massachusetts  general  industrial  returns  have  not 
brought  consternation  to  the  public.  The  government  annually 
contemplates  them  with  self-satisfied  pride.  As  a  whole,  they 
give  no  indication  of  a  stunted  growth.  Outside  of  textile 
occupations  there  is  no  complaint  of  injury. 

In  earlier  days  Massachusetts,  in  her  great  cotton  manu- 
facturing centers,  long  held  a  practical  monopoly  of  the  cotton- 
goods  production  of  the  country.  To-day,  however,  her  position 
is  altered ;  another  section  competes  with  increasing  strength 
to  force  her  goods  from  the  market. 

The  history  of  the  American  cotton  industry  in  itself  would 
give  plentiful  material  for  economic  and  sociological  study.  It 
begins  with  the  introduction  of  the  factory  system  in  Massa- 
chusetts ;  it  has  always  been  a  chief  subject  of  tariff  regulation 

1  Census  statistics  show  that  the  number  of  spindles  in  .cotton  manufacture 
from  1880  to  1890  increased  in  Massachusetts  3,548,603,  or  84  per  cent;  in  New 
Hampshire  299,502,  or  32  per  cent ;  in  New  Jersey  199,509,  or  86  per  cent ;  in 
New  York  158,610,  or  28  per  cent  ;  in  Maine  145,597,  or  21  per  cent;  in  Rhode 
Island  125,053,  or  7  per  cent;  in  Connecticut  64,198,  or  7  per  cent;  in  Vermont 
44,147,  or  82  per  cent  ;  and  decreased  in  Pennsylvania  118,754,  or  28  per  cent. 
See  Twelfth  Census,  Manufactures,  Part  III,  p.  49.  —  ED. 


494         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  labor-law  enactments  ;  it  built  a  large  monopoly  centered 
in  a  single  state,  later  carrying  a  heavy  burden  of  state  taxation 
and  furnishing  livelihood  to  thousands  ;  dependent  by  its  very 
character  upon  special  natural  and  social  conditions,  it  has  seen 
a  stripling  wrestler  with  nature's  bears  and  lions  grow  up,  now 
to  offer  resistance  to  its  Goliath  strength. 

We  will  not  here  attempt  needless  review  of  history.  The 
growth  of  Southern  competition  is  most  apparent  in  very  recent 
years.1  .  .  .  The  following  would  seem  to  give  an  approxima- 
tion to  the  actual  facts.  In  advantages  the  South  leads  in  cost 
of  labor,  estimated  at  from  30  to  40  per  cent  less  than  that  of 
Northern  labor,  or  about  two  cents  less  per  pound  of  goods. 
It  holds  also  an  indefinite  advantage  in  total  freedom  in  hours. 
Against  the  Massachusetts  mills,  limited  to  a  fifty-eight-hour 
week,  the  Southerner  may  run  seventy-two  hours  at  will.  The 
lighter  taxation  in  the  South,  in  many  cases  amounting  even 
to  no  taxation  at  all,  is  another  evident  advantage.  These  claims 
are  very  generally  conceded.  As  against  the  minor  advantages 
of  cheap  fuel,  abundant  water  power,  nearness  of  raw  material, 
and  lower  cost  of  building,  counterbalancing  considerations 
favor  the  North.  The  North  has  lower  cost  for  shipping  and 
marketing  of  goods,  at  least  10  per  cent  lower  for  machinery; 
a  saving  in  rates  of  interest  on  better  security,  and  a  larger 

1  Twelfth  Census,  Manufactures,  Part  III,  p.  28  :  "  In  1880  there  were  in  that 
part  of  the  country  161  establishments  only  which  made  reports  to  the  census  ; 
in  1890  there  were  only  239,  an  increase  of  78,  or  48.4  per  cent;  and  in  1900 there 
were  400  separate  establishments,  an  increase  from  1890  of  161,  or  67.4  per  cent. 
A  scrutiny  of  the  returns  by  states  shows  that  substantially  the  whole  increase  in 
the  South  has  been  in  the  four  states  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  and  Alabama.  The  number  of  establishments  in  these  four  states  was 
119  in  1880,  191  in  1890,  and  355  in  1900.  In  the  other  states  of  the  Southern 
group  the  number  was  42  in  1880,  48  in  1890,  and  45  in  1900. 

"  It  would  be  revealing  but  a  part  of  the  truth  to  rest  the  statement  of  Southern 
industrial  expansion  upon  the  number  of  establishments ;  for  in  the  decade  from 
1880  to  1890  the  number  of  spindles  in  the  four  leading  Southern  states  increased 
almost  twofold,  from  422,807  to  1,195,256;  and  the  average  number  of  spindles  to 
a  mill  increased  from  3553  to  6258.  In  the  decade  from  1890  to  1900  the  progress 
has  been  at  an  even  greater  ration,  although  the  basis  of  calculation  is  larger,  for 
the  total  number  of  spindles  is  3,791,654,  the  numerical  increase  2,596,398,  the 
percentage  of  increase  217,  and  the  average  number  of  spindles  to  a  mill  has 
become  10,651." 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  495 

surplus  capital  which  permits  the  purchase  of  cotton  when  the 
market  price  is  lowest.  Other  advantages  of  more  intangible 
nature  are  also  urged,  —  "economics,"  "public  protection," 
"experience,"  "advanced  laws,"  "invigorating  atmosphere," 
"stimulating  environment,"  "intelligent  workmen,  who  have 
learned  to  know  and  protect  their  rights."  1 

These  varied  advantages  compared  in  an  actual  market 
price  have  generally  favored  the  South  by  showing  a  balance 
of  at  least  one  fourth  of  a  cent  in  the  yard.  The  difference  in 
actual  cost  of  production  is  claimed  to  be  two  cents  per  pound, 
or  33^  per  cent  less  in  the  South  than  at  Fall  River. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  character  of  the  advantages  claimed 
will  show  Massachusetts  a  loser  as  a  result  of  the  leveling 
influence  of  time.  The  claim  of  higher  skill  in  Northern  labor 
is  already  losing  its  force  in  the  face  of  speed  and  product 
shown  by  Southern  machinery.  Now  ample  credit  and  lower 
capital  must  also  soon  be  looked  for  there.  It  seems,  indeed, 
to  an  unbiased  onlooker  that  "  Southern  competition  has  come 
to  stay,"  and  that  "it  is  foolish  to  ignore  or  belittle  it."2 

The  Massachusetts  Labor  Bureau  laid  the  blame  for  the  dis- 
tressing conditions  of  1897  to  1898  upon  the  abnormal  business 
depression,  "consequent"  overproduction,  and  resulting  pres- 
sure of  competition,  and  the  measure  of  accuracy  of  the  state- 
ment is  demonstrated  by  the  return  of  normal  prosperity  with 
the  general  revival  of  business  activity  throughout  the  country. 
This  must  not,  however,  be  permitted  to  cloak  the  important 
bearing  upon  the  present  and  future  situation  of  the  following 
facts.  In  spite  of  an  already  thoroughly  established  industry, 
in  a  center  calculated  to  attract  further  investments  of  capital 
seeking  the  occupation,  a  large  competing  business  has  grown 
up.  In  order  thus  to  compete  against  the  odds  in  favor  of  this 
well-organized  and  concentrated  industry,  it  was  obliged  to 
produce  the  same  goods  at  lower  prices.  This  it  has  done  and 
more.  While  the  Northern  mills  complained  of  overproduc- 
tion, Southern  mills  were  working  day  and  night  to  fill  their 
orders.  The  market  continued  perfectly  good  at  the  lower 

1  Labor  Bulletin,  January,  1898,  p.  38  (G.  A.  Chase).  2  Ibid. 


496         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

selling  prices.  In  the  South  the  mills  manufactured  at  such 
price  and  with  a  profit.  Cases  are  adduced  in  which  the  North- 
ern mills  relied  upon  their  Southern  branches  to  make  good 
their  loss.  As  an  example,  the  Massachusetts  Mills  of  Lowell 
have  such  a  branch  in  Georgia.  They  went  there  in  order  to 
save  their  trade  with  China  when  they  found  it  impossible  to 
continue  the  competition  from  Massachusetts  because  the 
Southern  mills  were  underselling  them  in  the  New  York  mar- 
ket. Built  in  1895,  this  mill  has  been  "  unable  to  keep  up  with 
orders"  and  has  "made  a  profit  from  the  start."  Mr.  South- 
worth  continues  :  "'We  are  able  to  sell  at  a  profit  goods  made 
in  that  mill  which  we  could  not  sell  at  all  if  they  were  produced 
in  Lowell,  owing  to  the  difference  in  cost.  Operations  in  the 
South  have  been  so  successful  that  we  are  now  considering 
the  increase  of  our  plant  there."  The  Spartanburg  Mills  tell 
the  same  tale.  They  had  languished  long  at  Newburyport,  but 
they  have  built  two  new  mills  out  of  their  Southern  profits. 
The  Arkwright  Club,  reporting  upon  its  investigations  concern- 
ing this  Southern  competition,  stated  its  belief  in  the  "  hope- 
lessness "  of  continuing  so  one-sided  a  struggle  as  that  in 
coarse-grade  cottons. 

As  yet  Southern  mills  have  not  attempted  to  make  the  finer 
grades.  There  seems  no  adequate  reason  why  they  should  not 
in  time,  but  advantages  would  at  first  weigh  less  strongly  on 
their  side.  There  is,  therefore,  prospect  that  the  cotton  indus- 
try of  Massachusetts  will  tend  to  develop  upon  these  lines.  "  It 
will  abandon  certain  kinds  of  goods  which  cannot  be  profitably 
made  ;  it  will  extend  the  output  of  others  and  cheapen  pro- 
duction by  improvements  in  machinery  and  processes  ;  the 
industry  in  each  section  will  take  the  form  to  which  it  is  best 
adapted."  1  In  this  conclusion  the  Bulletin  appears  to  recog- 
nize the  fact  of  unproductive  conditions  in  branches  of  the 
Massachusetts  cotton  industry. 

Natural  conditions  weigh  against  this  occupation  in  Massa- 
chusetts ;  a  stronger  force  than  state  legislation  is  determining 
its  future.  Years  since,  Massachusetts  lost  her  iron  works  ; 

1  Labor  Bulletin,  January,  1898,  p.  42. 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  497 


this  was  not  on  account  of  labor  legislation.  Nor  can  we  now 
believe  that  the  repeal  even  of  every  labor  law  would  perma- 
nently alter  the  present  situation. 

Given,  however,  such  weight  of  adverse  conditions  ;  given 
laws  which,  as  we  have  seen,  impose  an  appreciable  tax,  when 
every  least  saving  counts  ;  we  are  driven  to  conclude  that  this 
legislation  has  tended  to  hasten  the  departure  of  the  industry 
of  producing  the  heavier  grades  of  cottons  from  the  state. 

EFFECT  ON  WAGES 

.  .  .  Approached  without  prejudice,  the  problem  of  ascer- 
taining the  rise  or  fall  of  wages  due  to  restrictive  labor  legisla- 
tion appears  at  first  simple,  but  so  intimately  do  such  variations 
depend  upon  other  economic  forces  that  almost  endless  diffi- 
culties arise  in  the  process  of  elimination.  Industrial  statistics 
show  a  constant  advance  in  labor  earnings,  with  little  reference 
to  the  dates  of  labor  laws  ;  the  continual  introduction  of  refine- 
ments in  machinery  has  had  an  overpowering  influence  upon 
this  progress;  concessions  to  the  demands  of  trade  unions  have 
contributed  a  large  but  indefinite  share,  while  fluctuations  in 
business  prosperity  which  cause  temporary  changes  in  rates 
further  complicate  the  problem.1  In  cases  where  special  ad- 
vances have  appeared  more  local  reasons  are  always  forthcom- 
ing as  sufficient  causes. 

1  Changes  in  Wages,  1880,  February  to  July,  1904.  —  Textiles. 
February,  1880,  advance  of  10  per  cent. 
February,  1884,  reduction  of  5  to  8  percent. 
February,  1885,  further  reduction  of  about  6  per  cent. 
March,  1886,  advance  to  former  list. 
April,  1891,  advance  of  4  per  cent  to  mule  spinners  only. 
July,  1892,  advance  of  3  per  cent  to  make  weekly  earnings  under  fifty- 

eight-hour  law  same  as  before. 
September,  1893,  reduction  of  7  to  10  per  cent. 
August,  1895,  advance  of  5  to  7  per  cent. 
January,  1898,  reduction  averaging  8  per  cent. 
April,  1899,  restoration  to  January,  1898,  wages. 
December,  1899,  wages  advanced  10  per  cent. 

March,  1902,  advance  of  10  per  cent  in  Fall  River  and  New  Bedford. 
July,  1904,  reduction  of  12^  per  cent  in  Fall  River. 


498         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

An  illustration  will  perhaps  make  the  situation  more  intel- 
ligible. Here,  for  example,  is  a  case  where  the  rise  in  wages 
was  exclusively  due  to  new  machinery.  A  number  of  old  Bige- 
low  carpet  looms  were  replaced  by  new  looms  of  similar  gen- 
eral construction,  but  running  at  twice  the  speed  and  therefore 
weaving  twice  as  many  yards  of  goods  per  day.  The  output  in 
yards  being  doubled,  the  rate  of  piece  wages  was  cut  about  25 
per  cent,  leaving  an  increase  in  day  wages  of  about  25  per  cent. 
In  this  instance  the  rise  in  wages  was  perhaps  unusual,  owing 
to  the  length  of  time  that  the  old  machines  had  been  in  use  ; 
it  serves,  however,  to  indicate  the  importance  of  the  influence 
which  in  hundreds  of  less  evident  instances  should  nevertheless 
be  credited  to  machinery.  Speed  is,  of  course,  only  one  of  the 
many  mechanical  improvements  which  have  increased  the  work- 
ing capacity  of  labor  and  accomplished  a  saving  in  the  cost  of 
production,  which  redounds  to  the  benefit  of  both  employer  and 
operative  as  illustrated  above.  Indeed,  practical  examples  under 
this  head  might  be  multiplied  ad  infinitum. 

Again,  it  hardly  needs  argument  to  convince  an  American 
public  of  the  strength  with  which  organized  labor  pushes  its 
interests  in  the  industrial  world.  So  costly  are  the  large  strikes 
to  all  concerned  that  no  manufacturer  will  ignore,  until  the  point 
of  outbreak,  symptoms  of  discontent  among  his  operatives,  if 
business  conditions  warrant  a  more  conciliatory  course.  Nor  are 
the  labor  unions  slow  to  recognize  and  take  advantage  of  sea- 
sons of  prosperity  when  their  demands  are  likely  to  be  heeded. 
All  employers  appreciate  the  steady  pressure  of  this  force,  and 
it  is  certainly  unfortunate  that  we  have  as  yet  no  means  which 
can  even  approximately  measure  it.  This  sensitive  wage  barom- 
eter responds  to  the  slightest  changes  in  business  atmosphere  ; 
a  disturbance  of  war  or  rumor  of  war  at  hand  or  in  the  remote 
corners  of  the  earth,  the  surge  of  a  national  election,  the  year's 
agricultural  crop,  or  increasing  markets, — all  are  registered  in 
some  degree  in  corresponding  fluctuations  of  the  wage  column. 

In  such  an  entanglement  of  immediate  causes,  a  study  of 
statistics  which  concern  the  resultant  alone  could  avail  little 
to  enlighten  us,  and  would  certainly  lead  through  a  wearisome 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  499 

way.  Failing  figures,  the  question  was  religiously  put  to  em- 
ployers, labor  leaders,  and  government  officials,  that  at  least 
some  statement  of  a  general  opinion  might  be  entered  here. 
But  this  also  was  a  vain  hope. 

Employers  said  in  substance:  We  have  never  attempted  to 
figure  it  out.  We  have  an  ample  labor  market  and  pay  a  stated 
day  or,  more  generally,  a  piece  wage.  While  there  is  a  steady 
market  this  remains  the  same;  but  when  the  demand  increases, 
or  gives  prospect  of  increase,  or  can  be  tempted  even  by  slightly 
decreased  prices,  we  put  in  new  machines  of  greater  capacity 
in  proportion  to  the  labor  attending  ;  we  cut  piece  wages  in 
less  proportion  than  the  machine  increases  labor  capacity,  and 
consequently  wages  rise.  If  our  operatives  grow  restless,  or 
threaten  to  strike  for  higher  wages,  if  business  conditions  allow, 
we  advance  the  day  rate  or  piece  rate  slightly.  We  have  never 
knowingly  given  more  wages  because  of  reduced  hours  or  other 
labor  restriction ;  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  legislation 
has  had  an  appreciable  effect. 

Labor  leaders  said:  We  are  not  scholars  or  economists  to 
offer  a  theory,  nor  can  we  give  you  any  explanation  of  the  fact ; 
but  there  the  fact  stands.  Every  shortening  of  the  hours  of 
labor  has  been  attended  with  an  advance  in  wages.  That  is 
enough  for  us  to  know  to  keep  us  working  toward  more  of  the 
same  thing. 

Inspectors  said:  We  cannot  judge  at  all. 

Officers  of  the  Labor  Bureau  said :  Statistics  are  not  yet  com- 
plete enough  to  justify  deductions.  We  can  only  say  that  in 
general  real  wages  are  rising. 

Discussion  of  this  wage  question  centers  in  the  main  about 
restriction  of  hours  as  the  effective  cause. 

In  contrast  with  the  attitude  of  the  labor  leaders,  we  have 
seen  the  constant  voluntary  evasion  of  the  ten-hour  law  by 
employees.1  In  1887  the  inspectors  made  note:  "  Discontent 
with  the  ten-hour  law  is  not  found  among  mill  owners  only,  but 
also  among  workers  who  earn  less  wages."  2 

1  Massachusetts  Police  Report,  Inspection,  1887,  p.  20. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  14,  15. 


500         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

We  must  conclude,  as  did  the  Hon.  Amasa  Walker,  more  than 
thirty  years  ago,  that  "  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that  wages 
have  risen  in  consequence  of,  or  contemporaneously  with,  the 
reduction  of  hours  of  labor  " l  or  the  enactment  of  other  meas- 
ures of  labor  legislation. 

EMPLOYMENT 

For  the  sake  of  argument  we  may  allow,  then,  that  shortened 
hours  of  labor  do  not  appear  to  have  acted  to  increase  the  wage 
of  the  individual  worker;  nevertheless  has  not  this  been  the  result 
to  workers  as  a  class  through  increase  of  numbers  ?  Has  not 
this  restrictive  legislation  increased  employment  ?  The  argu- 
ment on  one  side  is  that  under  shorter  hours,  in  order  to  keep 
up  the  product,  more  labor  must  be  employed.  (Here  it  may 
be  noted  parenthetically  that  this  statement  ignores  the  pre- 
vious claim  that  short  hours  are  already  compensated  by  greater 
efficiency  of  the  original  company  of  workers;  nor  does  it 
count  the  extra  wage  payments  as  an  increasing  cost  of  produc- 
tion.) The  answer  rests  upon  other  grounds.  The  number  of 
employees  in  a  given  factory  is  strictly  limited  by  the  amount 
of  machinery  there  provided  for  them  to  tend  ;  such  limit  upon 
numbers  can  therefore  be  raised  only  by  new  investment  in 
like  machinery.  The  contrary  tendency  is  claimed,  that  restric- 
tions placed  upon  labor  make  the  manufacturer  seek  to  dispense 
with  it  as  far  as  possible,  new  investment  in  machinery  seeking 
that  of  labor-saving  value.  "  The  diversion  of  labor-taxed  capi- 
tal into  new  investments  in  other  states  may  there  increase 
employment,  but  not  in  Massachusetts." 

Cases  present  themselves  in  support  of  both  claims.  In  the 
building  trades,  clothing  industry,  and  so  forth,  such  increase 
of  employment  has  been  evident ;  in  cotton  mills  and  gener- 
ally where  machinery  is  expensive  there  tends  to  be  a  decrease 
in  the  proportion  of  labor.  The  problem  of  the  unemployed  in 
Massachusetts  seems  to  be  as  far  from  solution  as  elsewhere ; 

1  Report  of  majority  of  commissioners  on  Hours  of  Labor  to  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature,  1867. 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  501 

certainly  shorter  hours  have  not  acted  to  any  appreciable  extent 
to  absorb  enforced  idlers  into  productive  industries.1 

The  claim  that  legislation  has  driven  employees  away  from 
Massachusetts  to  other  states  where  longer  hours  prevail  is  too 
groundless  to  deserve  discussion.  Labor  is  to  a  certain  extent 
migratory  everywhere,  but  there  has  been  no  perceptible 
increase  of  migration  from  Massachusetts.  At  a  border  line  a 
few  discontented  operatives  may  have  moved  to  neighboring 
mills,  but  their  number  has  been  insignificant. 


EFFECT  UPON  WOMAN  AND  CHILD  LABOR 

We  have  seen  that  nearly  the  whole  of  this  restrictive  legis- 
lation bears  directly  upon  the  labor  of  women  and  children. 
Has  it,  then,  resulted  in  decreasing  their  number  in  factories  ? 

Inspectors'  reports,  from  1878  on,  note  a  continued  decrease 
in  the  number  of  children  employed.  In  1882  the  reduction  in 
numbers  during  the  previous  two  years  was  estimated  at  50  per 
cent.2  Prosecution  for  violation  became  less  frequent,  and  com- 
pliant employers  found  the  exactions  of  school  certificates,  em- 
ployment tickets,  and  so  forth,  such  continual  annoyance  that 
they  preferred  to  dispense  with  child  labor  so  far  as  possible.3 

Although  allowance  must  be  made  here  for  improvements  in 
machinery  which  have  made  automatic  many  processes  before 
given  into  the  hands  of  children,  and  for  the  public  sentiment 
which  frowns  upon  their  employment,  we  are  still  warranted  in 
attributing  a  substantial  influence  to  legislation  in  the  attain- 
ment of  the  above  results. 

The  same  does  not,  however,  hold  true  with  respect  to 
women.  The  proportion  of  women  employed  in  Massachusetts 
is  not  appreciably  decreasing.  Restrictions  upon  the  labor  of 
women  involve  far  less  inconvenience  than  is  imposed  by  the 

1  Brentano,  Hours,  Wages,  and  Production,  p.  69. 

2  Massachusetts  Police  Report,  Inspection,  1882,  p.  25. 

3  The  United  States  Census  chronicles  a  decrease  in  Massachusetts  from  17,445 
in  1880  to  12,556  in  1900,  or  of  20  per  cent  in  the  two  decades,  of  children  under 
sixteen  years  of  age  employed  in  manufacturing  industries.  —  ED. 


502 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 


details  of  child-labor  laws.  The  limitation  to  short  hours  is  the 
only  really  serious  drawback  to  their  employment.  The  cheap- 
ness of  their  labor,  added  in  some  of  the  more  delicate  opera- 
tions of  manufacture  to  their  superior  dexterity,  is  sufficient 
largely  to  counterbalance  this  disadvantage. 

CONCLUSIONS  SUMMARIZED 

We  may  summarize  our  conclusions  as  to  the  economic  effects 
of  Massachusetts  labor  legislation  as  follows  : 

1 .  A  real  and  appreciable  tax  has  been  put  upon  the  industry 
of  Massachusetts. 

2.  This  has  been  a  goad,  increasing  the  ordinary  incentive 
of  competition  to  urge  the  use  of  better  machinery  and  more 
careful  management,  and  has  forced  her  manufacturers  to  take 
the  lead  in  the  introduction   of   improvements.     Neighboring 
states  have,  however,  quickly  imitated  her  successful  methods. 

3.  Improvement  in  machinery,  speed,  and  so  forth,  involves 
somewhat  higher  work  requirements,  and  to  that  extent  increased 
efficiency.    The  reduction  of  hours  below  eleven  has  been  accom- 
panied by  an  offsetting  increase  of  efficiency  only  in  a  few  cases 
of  arduous  and  predominatingly  manual  labor.    Piecework  had 
already  fulfilled  its  function  here. 

4.  Whereas  statistics  of  manufacture  show  Massachusetts  to 
be  growing  at  a  normal  rate,  and  with  no  evidence  of  injury 
from  her  labor  laws,  one  industry  of  importance  is  in  an  unmis- 
takably critical  situation.    There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
heavy-grade  cotton  mill  is  leaving  the  state.    In  this  case  natural 
conditions  weighed  already  against  Massachusetts,  and  legisla- 
tive restrictions  have  been  a  tax  tending  to  hasten  the  departure 
of  the  industry  to  the  more  favored  South. 

5.  The  effect  upon  wages  has  been  slight  and  is  very  difficult 
to   estimate.    The  influences    of  improved  machinery,    of  the 
demands  of  labor  unions,  and  of  market  conditions  have  been 
so  great  as  to  overshadow  that  of  legislation.    Comparison  with 
other  states  compels  the  conclusion  that  there  is  no  sufficient 
evidence  of  a  tendency  in  restrictive  legislation  to  raise  wages. 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  503 

6.  We  found  increased  employment  in  building  trades,  and  so 
forth,  fully  offset  by  tendencies  to  save  labor  by  machine  work. 
Unemployment  remains  an  unsolved  problem  in  Massachusetts. 

7.  Protective  legislation   has   unquestionably    reduced  child 
labor,  both  directly  by  the  restriction  of  such  labor,  and  again 
indirectly  by  the  stimulus  given  to  mechanical  improvements 
which  have  raised  the  requirements  of  attention,  and  so  forth, 
and  made  work  before  given  to  children  automatic. 

8.  The  number  of  women  employed  has  maintained  a  con- 
stant ratio.    The  restrictions,  chiefly  in  hours,  have  been  offset 
by  the  cheapness  and  dexterity  of  female  labor. 

9.  Among  manufacturers  the  disquieting  influence  of  the  con- 
stant threat  of  further  protective  measures  on  behalf  of  labor  is 
noticeable  as  an  obstacle  to  business  confidence.    Bills  are  each 
year  brought  before  the  legislature,  backed  by  a  political  party 
of  constantly  growing  strength. 

10.  Another  economic  effect  of  this  legislation  is  the  unesti- 
mated  expense  which  years  of  struggle  for  and  against^the  pas- 
sage of  these  laws  has  imposed  upon  both  laborer  and  capitalist. 
This  must  aggregate  no  inconsiderable  sum  of  money. 

HEALTH 

Of  prime  importance  is  the  standard  of  health  in  the  com- 
munity. What  has  Massachusetts  labor  legislation  done  for  the 
health  of  her  workers  ? 

At  the  time  when  the  ten-hour  bill  was  eliciting  warmest 
discussion  (1865-1874),  a  chief  argument  presented  in  its  favor 
was  that  "the  health  of  female  operatives  demands  it  !"  So 
important  was  this  point  made  that  the  government  called  upon 
the  Board  of  Health  for  a  special  investigation  in  1871.  The 
report  then  given  upon  the  "  Health  of  Minors  in  Manufac- 
tories"  contained  the  following  statement :  "A  comparison  of  the 
death  rate  of  operatives  with  that  of  the  whole  population  at  the 
same  ages,  for  the  years  1860  to  1865,  allowance  being  made  for 
war  deaths,  showed  the  figures  to  be  '  remarkably  close.' '  Esti- 
mates of  absence  from  work  on  account  of  sickness  asked  for 


504         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

from  employers  varied  approximately  from  zero  to  5  per  cent, 
while  many  replied  that  absence  from  the  mills  had  been  too 
trifling  to  record.1  The  result  of  the  investigation  convinced 
the  board  that  there  was  very  little  evidence  of  special  disease 
or  unhealthiness  due  to  laboring  in  factories,  even  in  those  days 
of  long  hours. 

The  validity  of  these  deductions  has  been  adversely  criticised.2 
But  Dr.  Derby's  conclusions  do  not  stand  entirely  alone  in  their 
testimony  to  the  general  good  health  of  operatives.  The  com- 
missions of  1865  and  1866  held  the  same  view  ;  while  the  opinion 
of  practitioners  among  factory  hands  bore  out  the  testimony. 
More  general  studies  made  both  in  the  United  States  and 
England  further  corroborate  this  opinion  on  the  basis  of  a  wider 
experience. 

That  long  hours  and  lack  of  open-air  exercise  often  led  to 
great  fatigue  it  is  not  attempted  to  deny,  and  the  community 
must  recognize  that  industrial  prosperity  depends  largely  upon 
keeping  jts  labor  energy  strong  and  fresh.  If,  day  after  day, 
the  worker  quits  the  factory  in  an  exhausted  condition  this 
cumulative  pressure  tends  to  sap  away  her  vitality,  and  instead 
of  developing  into  a  more  skilled  operative  she  is  likely  to 
become  less  efficient  at  her  task.  The  passage  of  the  ten-hour 
law  in  1874,  however,  appears  to  have  put  an  effectual  check  to 
this  danger  in  Massachusetts.  Since  then  the  argument  of 
extreme  fatigue  has  been  abandoned  by  labor  leaders,  who  seek 
to  base  their  claims  upon  some  other  ground. 

It  is  noticeable  that  from  the  first  the  health  remedy  proposed 
was  shortened  hours  instead  of  better  ventilation  and  sanitation 
for  the  workroom,  which  would  have  seemed  the  prior  need. 
Possibly  this  was  due  to  the  fact,  already  noticed,  that  the 
working  class  itself  instituted  the  movement  and  was  hardly  in 
a  position  to  appreciate"  the  importance  of  the  latter  reform,  or  it 
may  have  been  only  the  easy  confusion  of  argument  with  object. 

1  G.  Derby  (M.  D.),  "  Health  of  Minors  in  Manufactories,"  Senate  Document, 
No.  50,  1871. 

2  Charles  Cowley,  "  Argument  for  Petitioners  in  Ten-Hour  Bill,"  before  Joint 
Special  Committee,  p.  jos  (pamphlet). 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  505 

Certainly  the  construction  of  old  factory  buildings  displayed 
little  forethought  or  provision  for  the  health  or  comfort  of 
employees.  Visit  to-day  the  workrooms  of  an  average  modern 
factory,  and  then  that  of  an  old  one,  be  it  ever  so  carefully 
remodeled  to  the  legal  requirements.  The  light,  airy  room  and 
cheerfulness  of  surroundings  in  the  new  stand  out  against  the 
cramped  and  gloomy  quarters  of  the  old  in  a  contrast  that  must 
convince  even  the  most  skeptical  of  the  blessing  of  this  advance. 
The  worker  is  confined  to  the  room  practically  throughout  the 
day.  Under  conditions  of  insufficient  ventilation  the  air  of  a 
factory  could  not  long  be  expected  to  retain  its  freshness,  and 
to  breathe  for  hours  every  day  such  a  vitiated  atmosphere  must 
have  added  greatly  to  the  wearisomeness  of  the  day's  work. 
Many  processes  of  production  tend  in  themselves  to  produce 
injurious  conditions,  but  until  regulated  by  law  this  fact  was 
generally  unheeded  both  by  employer  and  workman,  either 
because  of  indifference  to  the  principles  of  hygiene  or  ignorance 
of  them.  To-day,  however,  stringent  and,  we  may  fairly  say, 
well-enforced  laws  control  such  cases. 

The  system  of  ventilation  to  be  used  must  now  be  submitted, 
with  the  plans  of  every  new  factory,  for  approval  by  the  chief 
of  police  or  the  inspector,  and  those  buildings  in  which  it  was 
originally  lacking  must  be  remodeled  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
inspectors.  To-day,  also,  there  is  a  special  legal  remedy  in  cases 
where  a  process  which  engenders  unhealthy  conditions  is  not 
properly  protected,  and  the  inspector  is  empowered  to  order  the 
use  of  such  form  of  ventilating  mechanism,  or  contrivance  "  not 
excessively  expensive,"  as  shall  answer  the  necessity  of  the 
case.  In  conditions  of  ventilation,  as  the  Hon.  Carroll  D. 
Wright  suggests,  the  modern  factory  compares  quite  favorably 
with  the  modern  schoolroom  or  lecture  hall. 

Ventilation,  cleanliness,  and  sanitary  conditions  have  certainly 
done  as  much  to  check  the  slow  wearing  out  of  life  as  have  safety 
provisions  to  guard  against  the  more  sudden  disasters  of  acci- 
dent. We  cannot  but  believe  that  these  more  healthful  and 
sunny  surroundings  have  done  more  than  the  shortened  day  to 
increase  the  bodily  vigor  of  the  factory  girl. 


506         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Among  regulations  which  have  contributed  to  protection  of 
health  the  laws  concerning  child  labor  must  take  a  prominent 
place.  .  .  .  But  let  us  not  enter  into  discussion  where  the  facts 
are  so  palpable  and  so  universally  admitted.  .  .  . 

STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 

What  testimony  is  there  that  the  legislation  reviewed  has 
contributed  to  raise  the  standard  of  living  of  workers  ?  The 
same  answer  is  given  to  this  question  by  employer,  inspector, 
labor  leader,  and  charitable  worker.  At  his  work  the  operative 
has  become  accustomed  to  cleanliness,  air,  light,  and  good  order, 
and  has  begun  to  miss  them  in  the  home,  if  they  are  lacking 
there.  Thus  the  general  verdict  is  that  the  legal  requirements 
in  regard  to  sanitation  and  so  forth  in  factories,  which  have  so 
altered  the  surroundings  of  workroom  life,  have  at  the  same 
time  served  perceptibly  to  encourage  like  cleanliness  and  care 
taking  in  the  home. 

The  menace  of  coming  illiterate  generations  which  was  not 
at  all  to  be  scoffed  at  in  1870  is  no  longer  feared.  Thirty 
years  ago  children  as  young  as  eight  years  of  age  were  often 
to  be  found  at  work  in  mills  and  workshops,  but  to-day  a  legal 
age  limit  which  banishes  children  under  fourteen  years  from 
employment  meets  with  general  compliance.  The  " factory  chil- 
dren "  of  former  times  have  become  the  "school  children"  of 
to-day.  If  there  are  still  illiterate  minors,  they  must  lay  chief 
blame  to  themselves.  There  is  not  to-day  any  lack  of  opportunity ; 
lack  of  appreciation  of  opportunity  is  the  cause  of  such  illiteracy 
as  prevails,  and  is  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  newer  foreign 
element.  The  best-devised  law  and  strongest  police  force  would 
be  obliged  to  content  itself  with  incomplete  achievement  here. 

Opposition  was  at  first  made  to  the  weekly  payment  of 
wages.  It  could  be  no  advantage  to  the  thrifty,  who  easily 
secure  credit  and  with  monthly  pay  have  the  advantage  of  buy- 
ing in  bulk ;  it  would  be  an  injury  to  the  weak  and  dissolute, 
substituting  four  monthly  temptations  for  one.  This  statement 
of  opinion  on  the  part  of  some  employers  has  not  yet  received 


MASSACHUSETTS  LABOR  LEGISLATION  507 

the  support  of  figures.1  Intoxication  has  not  increased ;  for 
superintendents  make  short  work  of  dismissing  such  unreliable 
service,  with  most  healthfully  sobering  effect. 

Workers  themselves  claim  an  advantage  in  cash  payments, 
which  allow  them  to  trade  where  they  find  the  best  bargains 
and  not  only  where  they  can  obtain  credit.  In  Lawrence  it 
was  remarked  that  rent,  food,  and  so  forth,  fell  in  some  cases 
nearly  20  per  cent,  and  that  shops  where  operatives  used  to 
trade  exclusively  were  forced  to  cut  prices  and  encounter  close 
competition.2  Under  the  system  of  monthly  payments  opera- 
tives had  also  frequently  found  themselves  obliged  to  ask  for 
wage  advances,  a  favor  generally  heavily  discounted  at  the 
office,  often  at  the  rate  of  10  per  cent.3  Weekly  payments 
appear,  indeed,  to  have  conduced  to  home  economy  on  the  part 
of  the  workers. 

CITIZENSHIP 

Lastly,  has  this  legislation  had  any  effect  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  citizenship  ?  The  shorter  hours  conceded  by  law  to 
labor  have  been  little  "  misused  "  and  have  caused  no  "  increase 
of  laziness."  The  solicitude  indicated  by  this  objection  appears 
almost  hypocritical  in  face  of  the  silence  which  never  questions 
the  propriety  of  erratic  shut-downs  at  the  convenience  of 
manufacturers. 

The  argument  for  shorter  hours  appears  to  be  strongly 
supported  here.  From  the  beginning  advance  towards  civiliza- 
tion, and  in  civilization  towards  higher  attainment,  has  been 
conditioned  upon  leisure  time  beyond  that  necessary  to  the  gain- 
ing of  a  livelihood.  It  is  a  wide  law  and  it  applies  throughout. 
Leisure  is  equally  a  requirement  for  the  advance  of  our  labor- 
ing classes  to  better  conditions  of  living. 

Short  hours  in  Massachusetts  have  contributed  their  increase 
of  opportunity  which  has  not  been  neglected.  Not  only  do  we 

1  See  Inspectors'  Reports.    This  testimony  was  corroborated  in  interviews  by 
several  employers  who  had  made  previous  voluntary  experiment. 

2  Massachusetts  Police  Report,  Inspection,  1887,  p.  59. 

8  E.  Porritt,  Factory  Legislation  in  the  United  States,  p.  192. 


5o8         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

find  libraries  and  lecture  courses  offered,  but  to-day,  as  never 
before,  labor  flocks  to  use  these  and  asks  always  for  more  of 
them.  On  a  half  holiday  we  find  many  in  the  public  museum 
or  gallery.  Compare  these  Massachusetts  operatives  with  those 
of  other  states.  They  stand  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  their 
class  in  this  country,  organized,  intelligent,  progressive. 

Perhaps  their  voice  has  grown  stentorian,  but  they  are  ready 
and  able  to  argue  their  point.  It  is  the  testimony  of  the  Board  of 
Arbitration  that  operatives  have  shown  a  knowledge  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  methods  and  aims  of  arbitration,  and  an  intelli- 
gent recourse  to  them,  quite  equal  to  that  of  their  employers. 
The  trade  union  with  its  problem  of  organization  and  its  school 
of  free  discussion  has  been  the  chief  instrument  in  this  educa- 
tion, but  its  efficiency  has  depended  upon  hours  of  leisure 
away  from  the  factory.  Experience  of  social  intercourse,  of  the 
necessity  of  discipline  in  trade-union  organizations,  and  of  the 
weight  of  logic  in  argument  have  given  workingmen  a  new 
appreciation  of  their  own  relation  to  order,  government,  and  the 
community. 

SUMMARY 

The  legal  sanitary  requirements  of  cleanliness,  light,  ven- 
tilation, and  so  forth,  in  the  factory  act  improve  the  health  and 
spirits  of  workers,  and  tend  to  induce  the  same  conditions  in 
their  homes. 

Restrictions  upon  child  labor  have  expelled  at  least  75 
per  cent  of  the  original  number  of  working  children  from  em- 
ployment, substituted  the  schoolroom  for  the  factory,  and 
regulated  work  for  minors  in  general. 

Weekly  wage  payments  appear  to  have  encouraged  house- 
hold economy  rather  than  to  have  fostered  dissolute  living. 

Restrictions  upon  labor  have  brought  increased  social  and 
educational  opportunities  within  reach  of  operatives;  have 
advanced  the  interests  of  good  citizenship  among  them  ;  have 
tended  to  raise  their  standards  of  living,  with  important  eco- 
nomic consequences  in  broadening  the  home  market. 

SARAH  SCOVILL  WHITTELSEY. 


XXIII 

STATE  REGULATION   OF  EMPLOYMENT - 
DECISIONS   OF  COURTS 

I.    EMPLOYMENT  OF  MEN  —  FOURTEENTH  AMENDMENT  l 

The  supreme  court  of  Utah  had  sustained  a  statute  limiting 
the  employment  of  workingmen  in  underground  mines  and  in 
smelters  to  eight  hours  per  day.  Holden,  having  been  found 
guilty  and  fined  in  employing  a  miner  more  than  eight  hours, 
alleged  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  that 
the  Utah  statute  was  repugnant  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  in  these  respects  : 

It  deprives  the  defendant  and  all  employers  and  employees  of  the 
right  to  make  contracts  in  a  lawful  way  and  for  lawful  purposes. 

It  is  class  legislation,  and  not  equal  or  uniform  in  its  provisions. 

It  deprives  the  defendant  and  employers  and  employees  of  the 
equal  protection  of  the  laws,  abridges  the  privileges  and  immunities 
of  the  defendant  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  deprives  him 
of  his  property  and  liberty  without  due  process  of  law. 

Justice  Brown,  after  stating  the  facts,  said  : 

The  validity  of  the  statute  in  question  is,  however,  challenged 
upon  the  ground  of  an  alleged  violation  of  the  fourteenth  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  in  that  it  abridges  the 
privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  deprives 
both  the  employer  and  the  laborer  of  his  property  without  due 
process  of  law,  and  denies  to  them  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 
As  the  three  questions  of  abridging  their  immunities,  depriving  them 
of  their  property,  and  denying  them  the  protection  of  the  laws  are  so 
connected  that  the  authorities  upon  each  are  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
pertinent  to  the  others,  they  may  properly  be  considered  together. 

1  United  States  Supreme  Court.    Holden  v.  Hardy,  169  U.  S.  366  (i 

509 


510         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  fourteenth  amendment  there  was  a 
similar  provision  against  deprivation  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  with- 
out due  process  of  law  incorporated  in  the  fifth  amendment ;  but  as 
the  first  eight  amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  obligatory  only 
upon  Congress,  the  decisions  of  this  court  under  this  amendment 
have  but  a  partial  application  to  the  fourteenth  amendment,  which 
operates  only  upon  the  action  of  the  several  states.  The  fourteenth 
amendment,  which  was  finally  adopted  July  28,  1868,  largely  expanded 
the  power  of  the  Federal  courts  and  Congress,  and  for  the  first  time 
authorized  the  former  to  declare  invalid  all  laws  and  judicial  deci- 
sions of  the  states  abridging  the  rights  of  citizens  or  denying  them 
the  benefit  of  due  process  of  law. 

This  amendment  was  first  called  to  the  attention  of  this  court  in 
1872,  in  an  attack  upon  the  constitutionality  of  a  law  of  the  state 
of  Louisiana,  passed  in  1869,  vesting  in  a  slaughterhouse  company 
therein  named  the  sole  and  exclusive  privilege  of  conducting  and 
carrying  on  a  live-stock  landing  and  slaughterhouse  business  within 
certain  limits  specified  in  the  act,  and  requiring  all  animals  intended 
for  sale  and  slaughter  to  be  landed  at  their  wharves  or  landing  places. 
(Slaughterhouse  cases,  16  Wall.  36.)  While  the  court  in  that  case 
recognized  the  fact  that  the  primary  object  of  this  amendment  was 
to  secure  to  the  colored  race,  then  recently  emancipated,  the  full 
enjoyment  of  their  freedom,  the  further  fact  that  it  was  not  restricted 
to  that  purpose  was  admitted  both  in  the  prevailing  and  dissenting 
opinions,  and  the  validity  of  the  act  was  sustained  as  a  proper  police 
regulation  for  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  people.  A  majority  of 
the  cases  which  have  since  arisen  have  turned,  not  upon  a  denial  to 
the  colored  race  of  rights  therein  secured  to  them,  but  upon  alleged 
discriminations  in  matters  entirely  outside  of  the  political  relations 
of  the  parties  aggrieved. 

These  cases  may  be  divided,  generally,  into  two  classes  :  first, 
where  a  state  legislature  or  a  state  court  is  alleged  to  have  unjustly 
discriminated  in  favor  of  or  against  a  particular  individual  or  class 
of  individuals  as  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  community,  or 
denied  them  the  benefit  of  due  process  of  law;  second,  where  the 
legislature  has  changed  its  general  system  of  jurisprudence  by 
abolishing  what  had  been  previously  considered  necessary  to  the 
proper  administration  of  justice,  or  the  protection  of  the  individual.  .  .  . 

An  examination  of  both  these  classes  of  cases  under  the  fourteenth 
amendment  will  demonstrate  that,  in  passing  upon  the  validity  of 
state  legislation  under  that  amendment,  this  court  has  not  failed  to 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  511 

recognize  the  fact  that  the  law  is  to  a  great  extent  a  progressive 
science ;  that  in  some  of  the  states  methods  of  procedure  which  at 
the  time  the  Constitution  was  adopted  were  deemed  essential  to 
the  protection  and  safety  of  the  people,  or  to  the  liberty  of  the  citi- 
zen, have  been  found  to  be  no  longer  necessary  ;  that  restrictions 
which  had  formerly  been  laid  upon  the  conduct  of  individuals,  or  of 
classes  of  individuals,  had  proved  detrimental  to  their  interests, 
while,  upon  the  other  hand,  certain  other  classes  of  persons  (particu- 
larly those  engaged  in  dangerous  or  unhealthful  employments)  have 
been  found  to  be  in  need  of  additional  protection.  .  .  .  They  are 
mentioned  only  for  the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  the  proba- 
bility that  other  changes  of  no  less  importance  may  be  made  in  the 
future,  and  that,  while  the  cardinal  principles  of  justice  are  immu- 
table, the  methods  by  which  justice  is  administered  are  subject  to 
constant  fluctuation,  and  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  is  necessarily  and  to  a  large  extent  inflexible  and  exceed- 
ingly difficult  of  amendment,  should  not  be  so  construed  as  to 
deprive  the  states  of  the  power  so  to  amend  their  laws  as  to  make 
them  conform  to  the  wishes  of  the  citizens,  as  they  may  deem  best 
for  the  public  welfare,  without  bringing  them  into  conflict  with  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land.  Of  course,  it  is  impossible  to  forecast  the 
character  or  extent  of  these  changes ;  but  in  view  of  the  fact  that, 
from  the  day  Magna  Charta  was  signed  to  the  present  moment, 
amendments  to  the  structure  of  the  law  have  been  made  with  increas- 
ing frequency,  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  they  will  not  con- 
tinue, and  the  law  be  forced  to  adapt  itself  to  new  conditions  of 
society,  and  particularly  to  the  new  relations  between  employers 
and  employees,  as  they  arise.  .  .  .  We  do  not  wish,  however,  to  be 
understood  as  holding  that  this  power  is  unlimited.  While  the  peo- 
ple of  each  state  may  doubtless  adopt  such  systems  of  laws  as  best 
conform  to  their  own  traditions  and  customs,  the  people  of  the 
entire  country  have  laid  down  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  certain  fundamental  principles  to  which  each  member  of  the 
Union  is  bound  to  accede  as  a  condition  of  its  admission  as  a  state. 
Thus  the  United  States  are  bound  to  guarantee  to  each  state  a 
republican  form  of  government,  and  the  tenth  section  of  the  first 
article  contains  certain  other  specified  limitations  upon  the  power 
of  the  several  states,  the  object  of  which  was  to  secure  to  Congress 
paramount  authority  with  respect  to  matters  of  universal  concern. 
In  addition,  the  fourteenth  amendment  contains  a  sweeping  provision 
forbidding  the  states  from  abridging  the  privileges  and  immunities 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  denying  them  the  benefit  of 
due  process  or  equal  protection  of  the  laws.  .  .  .  This  right  of 
contract,  however,  is  itself  subject  to  certain  limitations  which 
the  state  may  lawfully  impose  in  the  exercise  of  its  police  powers. 
While  this  power  is  inherent  in  all  governments,  it  has  doubtless 
been  greatly  expanded  in  its  application  during  the  past  century, 
owing  to  the  enormous  increase  in  the  number  of  occupations  which 
are  dangerous  or  so  far  detrimental  to  the  health  of  employees  as 
to  demand  special  precautions  for  their  well-being  and  protection, 
or  the  safety  of  adjacent  property.  .  .  . 

While  this  power  is  necessarily  inherent  in  every  form  of  gov- 
ernment, it  was,  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  but 
sparingly  used  in  this  country.  As  we  were  then  almost  purely  an 
agricultural  people,  the  occasion  for  any  special  protection  of  a 
particular  class  did  not  exist.  Certain  profitable  employments,  such 
as  lotteries  and  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  which  were  then 
considered  to  be  legitimate,  have  since  fallen  under  the  ban  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  are  now  either  altogether  prohibited  or  made  sub- 
ject to  stringent  police  regulations.  The  power  to  do  this  has  been 
repeatedly  affirmed  by  this  court. 

After  mentioning  several  forms  of  legislation  for  the  protec- 
tion of  workmen  in  factories  and  mines,  which  have  uniformly 
been  held  to  be  constitutional,  the  court  continued  : 

But  if  it  be  within  the  power  of  a  legislature  to  adopt  such  means 
for  the  protection  of  the  lives  of  its  citizens,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why 
precautions  may  not  also  be  adopted  for  the  protection  of  their 
health  and  morals.  It  is  as  much  for  the  interest  of  the  state  that 
the  public  health  should  be  preserved  as  that  life  should  be  made 
secure.  .  .  .  Upon  the  principles  above  stated  we  think  the  act  in 
question  may  be  sustained  as  a  valid  exercise  of  the  police  power 
of  the  state.  The  enactment  does  not  profess  to  limit  the  hours  of 
all  workmen,  but  merely  those  who  are  employed  in  underground 
mines,  or  in  the  smelting,  reduction,  or  refining  of  ores  or  metals. 
These  employments,  when  too  long  pursued,  the  legislature  has 
judged  to  be  detrimental  to  the  health  of  the  employees ;  and,  so 
long  as  there  are  reasonable  grounds  for  believing  that  this  is  so,  its 
decision  on  this  subject  cannot  be  reviewed  by  the  Federal  courts. 

While  the  general  experience  of  mankind  may  justify  us  in  believ- 
ing that  men  may  engage  in  ordinary  employments  more  than  eight 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  513 

hours  per  day  without  injury  to  their  health,  it  does  not  follow  that 
labor  for  the  same  length  of  time  is  innocuous  when  carried  on 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth,  where  the  operative  is  deprived  of 
fresh  air  and  sunlight,  and  is  frequently  subjected  to  foul  atmos- 
phere and  a  very  high  temperature,  or  to  the  influence  of  noxious 
gases  generated  by  the  processes  of  refining  or  smelting. 

We  concur  in  the  following  observations  of  the  supreme  court  of 
Utah  in  this  connection:  "The  conditions  with  respect  to  health 
of  laborers  in  underground  mines  doubtless  differ  from  those  under 
which  they  labor  in  smelters  and  other  reduction  works  on  the  sur- 
face. Unquestionably,  the  atmosphere  and  other  conditions  in 
mines  and  reduction  works  differ.  Poisonous  gases,  dust,  and 
impalpable  substances  arise  and  float  in  the  air  in  stamp  mills, 
smelters,  and  other  works  in  which  ores  containing  metals,  com- 
bined with  arsenic  or  other  poisonous  elements  or  agencies,  are 
treated,  reduced,  and  refined,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  pro- 
longed effort,  day  after  day,  subject  to  such  conditions  and  agen- 
cies, will  produce  morbid,  noxious,  and  often  deadly  effects  in  the 
human  system.  Some  organisms  and  systems  will  resist  and  endure 
such  conditions  and  effects  longer  than  others.  It  may  be  said  that 
labor  in  such  conditions  must  be  performed.  Granting  that,  the 
period  of  labor  each  day  should  be  of  a  reasonable  length.  Twelve 
hours  per  day  would  be  less  injurious  than  fourteen,  ten  than  twelve, 
and  eight  than  ten.  The  legislature  has  named  eight.  Such  a 
period  was  deemed  reasonable.  .  .  .  The  law  in  Question  is  con- 
fined to  the  protection  of  that  class  of  people  engaged  in  labor  in 
underground  mines,  and  in  smelters  and  other  works  wherein  ores 
are  reduced  and  refined.  This  law  applies  only  to  the  classes  sub- 
jected by  their  employment  to  the  peculiar  conditions  and  effects 
attending  underground  mining  and  work  in  smelters,  and  other 
works  for  the  reduction  and  refining  of  ores.  Therefore  it  is  not 
necessary  to  discuss  or  decide  whether  the  legislature  can  fix  the 
hours  of  labor  in  other  employments.  Though  reasonable  doubts 
may  exist  as  to  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  pass  a  law,  or  as  to 
whether  the  law  is  calculated  or  adapted  to  promote  the  health, 
safety,  or  comfort  of  the  people,  or  to  secure  good  order  or  promote 
the  general  welfare,  we  must  resolve  them  in  favor  of  the  right  of 
that  department  of  government."  (46  Pac.  1105.) 

The  legislature  has  also  recognized  the  fact,  which  the  experience 
of  legislators  in  many  states  has  corroborated,  that  the  proprietors 
of  these  establishments  and  their  operatives  do  not  stand  upon  an 


514         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

equality,  and  that  their  interests  are  to  a  certain  extent  conflict- 
ing. The  former  naturally  desire  to  obtain  as  much  labor  as  pos- 
sible from  their  employees,  while  the  latter  are  often  induced  by  the 
fear  of  discharge  to  conform  to  regulations  which  their  judgment, 
fairly  exercised,  would  pronounce  to  be  detrimental  to  their  health 
or  strength.  In  other  words,  the  proprietors  lay  down  the  rules, 
and  the  laborers  are  practically  constrained  to  obey  them.  In  such 
cases  self-interest  is  often  an  unsafe  guide,  and  the  legislature  may 
properly  interpose  its  authority. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  suggest  in  this  connection  that 
although  the  prosecution  in  this  case  was  against  the  employer  of 
labor,  who  apparently,  under  the  statute,  is  the  only  one  liable,  his 
defense  is  not  so  much  that  his  right  to  contract  has  been  infringed 
upon,  as  that  the  act  works  a  peculiar  hardship  to  his  employees, 
whose  right  to  labor  as  long  as  they  please  is  alleged  to  be  thereby 
violated.  The  argument  would  certainly  come  with  better  grace 
and  greater  cogency  from  the  latter  class.  But  the  fact  that  both 
parties  are  of  full  age  and  competent  to  contract  does  not  neces- 
sarily deprive  the  state  of  the  power  to  interfere,  where  the  parties 
do  not  stand  upon  an  equality,  or  where  the  public  health  demands 
that  one  party  to  the  contract  shall  be  protected  against  himself. 
The  state  still  retains  an  interest  in  his  welfare,  however  reckless 
he  may  be.  The  whole  is  no  greater  than  the  sum  of  all  the  parts, 
and  when  the  individual  health,  safety,  and  welfare  are  sacrificed 
or  neglected  tha  state  must  suffer. 

We  have  no  disposition  to  criticise  the  many  authorities  which 
hold  that  state  statutes  restricting  the  hours  of  labor  are  unconsti- 
tutional. Indeed,  we  are  not  called  upon  to  express  an  opinion 
upon  this  subject.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  of  them  that  they  have  no 
application  to  cases  where  the  legislature  had  adjudged  that  a  lim- 
itation is  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  health  of  employees, 
and  there  are  reasonable  grounds  for  believing  that  such  determina- 
tion is  supported  by  the  facts.  The  question  in  each  case  is  whether 
the  legislature  has  adopted  the  statute  in  exercise  of  a  reasonable 
discretion,  or  whether  its  action  be  a  mere  excuse  for  an  unjust  dis- 
crimination, or  the  oppression  or  spoliation  of  a  particular  class. 

Seven  years  after  the  case  of  Holden  v.  Hardy  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  handed  down  a  decision  on  the 
constitutionality  of  a  New  York  statute  regulating  bakeries.1 

1  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Lochner  v.  New  York,  25  Sup.  Court  Rep. 
539 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  515 

Mr.   Justice  Peckham,   after  making  the  statement  of   facts, 
delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court : 

The  indictment,  it  will  be  seen,  charges  that  the  plaintiff  in  error 
violated  the  noth  section  of  article  8,  chapter  415,  of  the  Laws  of 
1897,  known  as  the  Labor  Law  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  that  he 
wrongfully  and  unlawfully  required  and  permitted  an  employee 
working  for  him  to  work  more  than  sixty  hours  in  one  week.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  an  act  merely  fixing  the  number  of  hours  which  shall  con- 
stitute a  legal  day's  work,  but  an  absolute  prohibition  upon  the 
employer's  permitting,  under  any  circumstances,  more  than  ten 
hours'  work  to  be  done  in  his  establishment.  The  employee  may 
desire  to  earn  the  extra  money  which  would  arise  from  his  work- 
ing more  than  the  prescribed  time,  but  this  statute  forbids  the 
employer  from  permitting  the  employee  to  earn  it. 

The  statute  necessarily  interferes  with  the  right  of  contract 
between  the  employer  and  employees  concerning  the  number  of 
hours  in  which  the  latter  may  labor  in  the  bakery  of  the  employer. 
The  general  right  to  make  a  contract  in  relation  to  his  business  is 
part  of  the  liberty  of  the  individual  protected  by  the  fourteenth 
amendment  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  .  .  . 

This  court  has  recognized  the  existence  and  upheld  the  exercise 
of  the  police  powers  of  the  states  in  many  cases  which  might  fairly 
be  considered  as  border  ones,  and  it  has,  in  the  course  of  its  deter- 
mination of  questions  regarding  the  asserted  invalidity  of  such  stat- 
utes on  the  ground  of  their  violation  of  the  rights  secured  by  the 
Federal  Constitution,  been  guided  by  rules  of  a  very  liberal  nature, 
the  application  of  which  has  resulted,  in  numerous  instances,  in 
upholding  the  validity  of  state  statutes  thus  assailed.  Among  the 
later  cases  where  the  state  law  has  been  upheld  by  this  court  is  that 
of  Holden  v.  Hardy,  169  U.  S.  366.  .  .  . 

It  will  be  observed  that  even  with  regard  to  that  class  of  labor 
[underground  mines  and  smelters]  the  Utah  statute  provided  for 
cases  of  emergency  wherein  the  provisions  of  the  statute  would  not 
apply.  The  statute  now  before  this  court  has  no  emergency  clause 
in  it,  and,  if  the  statute  is  valid,  there  are  no  circumstances  and  no 
emergencies  under  which  the  slightest  violation  of  the  provisions  of 
the  act  would  be  innocent.  There  is  nothing  in  Holden  v.  Hardy 
which  covers  the  case  now  before  us.  In  every  case  that  comes 
before  this  court,  therefore,  where  legislation  of  this  character  is 
concerned  and  where  the  protection  of  the  Federal  Constitution  is 
sought,  the  question  necessarily  arises,  Is  this  a  fair,  reasonable, 


516         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  appropriate  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  state,  or  is  it  an 
unreasonable,  unnecessary,  and  arbitrary  interference  with  the  right 
of  the  individual  to  his  personal  liberty  or  to  enter  into  those  con- 
tracts in  relation  to  labor  which  may  seem  to  him  appropriate  or 
necessary  for  the  support  of  himself  and  his  family  ?  Of  course,  the 
liberty  of  contract  relating  to  labor  includes  both  parties  to  it.  The 
one  has  as  much  right  to  purchase  as  the  other  to  sell  labor. 

This  is  not  a  question  of  substituting  the  judgment  of  the  court 
for  that  of  the  legislature.  If  the  act  be  within  the  power  of  the 
state  it  is  valid,  although  the  judgment  of  the  court  might  be  totally 
opposed  to  the  enactment  of  such  a  law.  But  the  question  would 
still  remain,  Is  it  within  the  police  power  of  the  state  ?  and  that 
question  must  be  answered  by  the  court. 

The  question  whether  this  act  is  valid  as  a  labor  law,  pure  and 
simple,  may  be  dismissed  in  a  few  words.  There  is  no  reasonable 
ground  for  interfering  with  the  liberty  of  person  or  the  right  of  free 
contract  by  determining  the  hours  of  labor  in  the  occupation  of  a 
baker.  There  is  no  contention  that  bakers  as  a  class  are  not  equal 
in  intelligence  and  capacity  to  men  in  other  trades  or  manual  occu- 
pations, or  that  they  are  not  able  to  assert  their  rights  and  care  for 
themselves  without  the  protecting  arm  of  the  state  interfering  with 
their  independence  of  judgment  and  of  action.  They  are  in  no 
sense  wards  of  the  state.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  a  purely  labor  law, 
with  no  reference  whatever  to  the  question  of  health,  we  think  that 
a  law  like  the  one  before  us  involves  neither  the  safety,  the  morals, 
nor  the  welfare  of  the  public,  and  that  the  interest  of  the  public  is 
not  in  the  slightest  degree  affected  by  such  an  act.  The  law  must 
be  upheld,  if  at  all,  as  a  law  pertaining  to  the  health  of  the  individ- 
ual engaged  in  the  occupation  of  a  baker.  It  does  not  affect  any 
other  portion  of  the  public  than  those  who  are  engaged  in  that  occu- 
pation. Clean  and  wholesome  bread  does  not  depend  upon  whether 
the  baker  works  but  ten  hours  per  day  or  only  sixty  hours  a  week. 
The  limitation  of  the  hours  of  labor  does  not  come  within  the  police 
power  on  that  ground. 

It  is  a  question  of  which  of  two  powers  or  rights  shall  prevail,  — 
the  power  of  the  state  to  legislate  or  the  right  of  the  individual  to 
liberty  of  person  and  freedom  of  contract.  The  mere  assertion  that 
the  subject  relates,  though  but  in  a  remote  degree,  to  the  public 
health  does  not  necessarily  render  the  enactment  valid.  The  act 
must  have  a  more  direct  relation,  as  a  means  to  an  end,  and  the  end 
itself  must  be  appropriate  and  legitimate,  before  an  act  can  be  held 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  517 

to  be  valid  which  interferes  with  the  general  right  of  an  individual 
to  be  free  in  his  person  and  in  his  power  to  contract  in  relation  to 
his  own  labor. 

This  case  has  caused  much  diversity  of  opinion  in  the  state  courts. 
In  the  Supreme  Court  two  of  the  five  judges  composing  the  court 
dissented  from  the  judgment  affirming  the  validity  of  the  act.  In 
the  Court  of  Appeals  three  of  the  seven  judges  also  dissented  from 
the  judgment  upholding  the  statute.  Although  found  in  what  is 
called  a  labor  law  of  the  state,  the  Court  of  Appeals  has  upheld  the 
act  as  one  relating  to  the  public  health,  — in  other  words,  as  a  health 
law.  One  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  in  upholding  the 
law,  stated  that  in  his  opinion  the  regulation  in  question  could  not 
be  sustained  unless  they  were  able  to  say  from  common  knowledge 
that  working  in  a  bakery  and  candy  factory  was  an  unhealthful 
employment.  The  judge  held  that  while  the  evidence  was  not  uni- 
form, it  still  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  occupation  of  a 
baker  or  confectioner  was  unhealthful  and  tended  to  result  in  dis- 
eases of  the  respiratory  organs.  Three  of  the  judges  dissented  from 
that  view,  and  they  thought  the  occupation  of  a  baker  was  not  to 
such  an  extent  unhealthful  as  to  warrant  the  interference  of  the 
legislature  with  the  liberty  of  the  individual. 

We  think  the  limit  of  the  police  power  has  been  reached  and 
passed  in  this  case.  There  is,  in  our  judgment,  no  reasonable  founda- 
tion for  holding  this  to  be  neces'sary  or  appropriate  as  a  health  law 
to  safeguard  the  public  health  or  the  health  of  the  individuals  who 
are  following  the  trade  of  a  baker.  If  this  statute  be  valid,  and  if, 
therefore,  a  proper  case  is  made  out  in  which  to  deny  the  right  of 
an  individual,  sui  juris,  as  employer  or  employee  to  make  contracts 
for  the  labor  of  the  latter  under  the  protection  of  the  provisions  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  limit  to  which 
legislation  of  this  nature  might  not  go.  ...  In  looking  through 
statistics  regarding  all  trades  and.  occupations,  it  may  be  true  that 
the  trade  of  a  baker  does  not  appear  to  be  as  healthful  as  some 
other  trades,  and  is  also  vastly  more  healthful  than  still  others.  To 
the  common  understanding,  the  trade  of  a  baker  has  never  been 
regarded  as  an  unhealthful  one.  Very  likely  physicians  would  not 
recommend  the  exercise  of  that  or  of  any  other  trade  as  a  remedy 
for  ill  health.  Some  occupations  are  more  healthful  than  others,  but 
we  think  there  are  none  which  might  not  come  under  the  power  of 
the  legislature  to  supervise  and  control  the  hours  of  working  therein, 
if  the  mere  fact  that  the  occupation  is  not  absolutely  and  perfectly 


5i8         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

healthful  is  to  confer  that  right  upon  the  legislative  department  of 
the  government.  It  might  be  safely  affirmed  that  almost  all  occu- 
pations more  or  less  affect  the  health.  There  must  be  more  than 
the  mere  fact  of  the  possible  existence  of  some  small  amount  of 
unhealthfulness  to  warrant  legislative  interference  with  liberty.  It  is 
unfortunately  true  that  labor,  even  in  any  department,  may  possibly 
carry  with  it  the  seeds  of  unhealthfulness.  But  are  we  all,  on  that 
account,  at  the  mercy  of  legislative  majorities  ?  A  printer,  a  tin- 
smith, a  locksmith,  a  carpenter,  a  cabinetmaker,  a  dry-goods  clerk, 
a  bank's,  a  lawyer's,  or  a  physician's  clerk,  or  a  clerk  in  almost  any 
kind  of  business,  would  come  under  the  power  of  the  legislature  on 
this  assumption.  No  trade,  no  occupation,  no  mode  of  earning 
one's  living,  could  escape  this  all-pervading  power,  and  the  acts  of 
the  legislature  in  limiting  the  hours  of  labor  in  all  employments 
would  be  valid,  although  such  limitation  might  seriously  cripple  the 
ability  of  the  laborer  to  support  himself  and  his  family. 

.  .  .  All  that  it  could  properly  do  has  been  done  by  it  with  regard 
to  the  conduct  of  bakeries,  as  provided  for  in  the  other  sections  of  the 
act  above  set  forth.  These  several  sections  provide  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  premises  where  the  bakery  is  carried  on,  with  regard  to 
furnishing  proper  wash  rooms  and  water  closets  apart  from  the 
bake  room,  also  with  regard  to  providing  proper  drainage,  plumb- 
ing, and  painting ;  the  sections,  in  addition,  provide  for  the  height 
of  the  ceiling,  the  cementing  or  tiling  of  floors,  where  necessary  in 
the  opinion  of  the  factory  inspector,  and  for  other  things  of  that 
nature  ;  alterations  are  also  provided  for,  and  are  to  be  made  where 
necessary  in  the  opinion  of  the  inspector  in  order  to  comply  with 
the  provisions  of  the  statute.  These  various  sections  may  be  wise 
and  valid  regulations,  and  they  certainly  go  to  the  full  extent  of 
providing  for  the  cleanliness  and  the  healthfulness,  so  far  as  possible, 
of  the  quarters  in  which  bakeries  are  to  be  conducted.  Adding  to 
all  these  requirements  a  prohibition  to  enter  into  any  contract  of 
labor  in  a  bakery  for  more  than  a  certain  number  of  hours  a  week 
is,  in  our  judgment,  so  wholly  beside  the  matter  of  a  proper,  rea- 
sonable, and  fair  provision  as  to  run  counter  to  that  liberty  of  per- 
son and  of  free  contract  provided  for  in  the  Federal  Constitution. 

It  is  manifest  to  us  that  the  limitation  of  the  hours  of  labor  as 
provided  for  in  this  section  of  the  statute  under  which  the  indict- 
ment was  found  and  the  plaintiff  in  error  convicted  has  no  such 
direct  relation  to,  and  no  such  substantial  effect  upon,  the  health 
of  the  employee  as  to  justify  us  in  regarding  the  section  as  really 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  519 

a  health  law.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  real  object  and  purpose  were 
simply  to  regulate  the  hours  of  labor  between  the  master  and  his 
employees  (all  being  men,  sui  juris)  in  a  private  business  not  dan- 
gerous in  any  degree  to  morals  or  in  any  real  and  substantial  degree 
to  the  health  of  the  employees.  Under  such  circumstances  the  free- 
dom of  master  and  employee  to  contract  with  each  other  in  relation 
to  their  employment,  and  in  defining  the  same,  cannot  be  prohib- 
ited or  interfered  with  without  violating  the  Federal  Constitution. 


II.  EMPLOYMENT  OF  MEN  —  STATE  CONSTITUTION  l 

This  case  arose  under  a  statute  similar  to  the  one  in  Utah 
limiting  the  hours  of  labor  in  mines  and  smelters.  The  chief 
justice  said : 

In  the  light  of  these  authorities  it  is  clear :  first,  that  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Utah  in  construing  the  Utah  statute 
is  not  an  authority  here,  for  the  reason  that  the  decision  there  was 
based  entirely  upon  the  mandatory  nature  of  a  provision  of  the 
Utah  constitution  which  is  not  present  in  our  organic  act ;  second, 
in  affirming  the  judgment  of  the  Utah  court  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Holden  cases  is  not  a 
precedent  for  this  court  in  construing  our  act,  for  the  reason  that 
the  sole  question  before  the  Federal  court  was  whether  or  not  the 
Utah  act  violated  the  Federal  Constitution.  If,  however,  it  could 
be  maintained  that  this  affirmance  was  in  effect  a  determination 
that  the  Utah  law  was  in  harmony  with  the  Utah  constitution,  the 
decision  of  the  Federal  court  would  not  be  an  authority  here, 
because  we  have  no  such  constitutional  provision. 

The  extent  and  meaning  of  the  act  in  question  are  not  difficult 
of  ascertainment,  though  it  is  not  a  model  of  statutory  composi- 
tion. That  it  operates  as  a  limitation  both  upon  the  employer  and 
the  employee  seems  clear.  It  forbids  a  certain  kind  of  employment. 
There  can  be  no  employment  without  the  concurring  acts  of  him 
who  contracts  for  employment  and  of  him  who  contracts  to  be 
employed.  Both  are  within  the  inhibitions  of  the  enactment,  and 
if  it  is  valid  each  is  liable  to  the  penalty  for  making  the  forbidden 
contract.  The  petitioner,  therefore,  as  a  laboring  man,  is  prohib- 
ited from  entering  into  a  contract  to  work  in  a  smelter  more  than 
eight  hours  in  any  one  day.  If  in  our  constitution  there  was,  as 
1  Supreme  Court  of  Colorado.  In  re  Morgan,  26  Colo.  415  (1899). 


520 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


there  seems  to  be  in  that  of  Utah,  a  specific  affirmative  provision 
enjoining  upon  the  general  assembly  the  enactment  of  laws  to  pro- 
tect the  health  of  the  classes  of  workmen  therein  enumerated,  it 
might  be  that  acts  reasonably  appropriate  to  that  end  would  not  be 
obnoxious  to  that  provision  of  our  constitution  forbidding  class 
legislation.  The  two  provisions  should  be  construed  together  so  as 
to  harmonize,  if  that  be  possible  under  sound  canons  of  construc- 
tion, and  the  general  clause  forbidding  class  legislation  might  be 
regarded  as  qualified  by  the  special  one  which  authorizes  such  legis- 
lation in  respect  to  the  enumerated  classes.  Article  16  of  our  con- 
stitution is  devoted  to  mining  and  irrigation,  and  section  2  directs 
that  "the  general  assembly  shall  provide  by  law  for  the  proper  ven- 
tilation of  mines,  the  construction  of  escapement  shafts,  and  such 
other  appliances  as  may  be  necessary  to  protect  the  health  and 
secure  the  safety  of  the  workmen  therein."  These  regulations  man- 
ifestly embrace  only  such  reasonably  necessary  mechanical  appli- 
ances as  will  secure  the  end  in  view,  and  do  not  include  other  kinds 
of  health  regulations.  We  have  no  constitutional  provision  which 
authorizes  the  legislature  to  single  out  workingmen  in  underground 
mines  and  smelters  and  impose  upon  them  restrictions  as  to  the 
number  of  hours  they  shall  work  at  these  industries,  from  which 
workingmen  in  all  other  departments  of  industry  are  exempt. 

The  act  is  equally  obnoxious  to  the  provisions  of  our  bill  of  rights, 
set  out  in  the  statement,  which  guarantee  to  all  persons  their  natu- 
ral and  inalienable  right  to  personal  liberty,  and  the  right  of  acquir- 
ing, possessing,  and  protecting  property.  Liberty  means  something 
more  than  mere  freedom  from  physical  restraint.  It  includes  the 
privilege  of  choosing  any  lawful  occupation  for  the  exercise  of  one's 
physical  and  mental  faculties  which  is  not  injurious  to  others.  The 
right  to  acquire  and  possess  property  includes  the  right  to  contract 
for  one's  labor.  The  latter  is  essentially  a  property  right.  That 
this  act  infringes  both  the  right  to  enjoy  liberty  and  to  acquire  and 
possess  property  seems  too  clear  for  argument.  While  not  conced- 
ing that  this  limitation  is  not  permissible,  counsel  for  respondent, 
as  we  understand  them,  recognize  the  fact  (but,  if  they  do  not,  the 
same  is  only  too  apparent)  that  these  natural  rights  are  violated  by 
the  provisions  of  the  act.  The  limitation  is  claimed  to  be  warranted 
on  the  ground  that  these  and  all  other  constitutional  guaranties 
must  yield  to  the  paramount  and  sovereign  right  of  the  state  to 
exercise  its  police  power  to  protect  the  public  health,  and  to  this, 
the  principal  question  in  this  proceeding,  we  now  address  ourselves, 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  521 

Starting  then  with  the  premise,  which  is  practically  admitted  to  be 
true,  that  this  act  contravenes  the  constitutional  provisions  quoted 
in  the  statement,  let  us  see  if,  notwithstanding  this  conflict,  it  can 
be  justified  as  a  valid  exercise  of  the  police  power.  .  .  .  While 
invoking  as  a  warrant  for  this  act  that  phase  of  the  police  power 
extending  to  the  public  health,  its  supporters  do  not  claim  that  its 
real  and  primary  object  is  to  protect  the  public  health,  or  the  health 
of  that  portion  of  the  community  in  the  immediate  vicinity  or 
affected  by  the  operation  of  smelters.  Were  the  object  of  the  act 
to  protect  the  public  health,  and  its  provisions  reasonably  appro- 
priate to  that  end,  it  might  be  sustained  ;  for  in  such  a  case  even 
the  constitutional  right  of  contract  may  be  reasonably  limited.  But 
the  act  before  us  is  not  of  that  character.  In  selecting  a  subject 
for  the  exercise  of  the  police  power  the  legislature  must  keep  within 
its  true  scope.  The  reason  for  the  existence  of  the  power  rests  upon 
the  theory  that  one  must  so  use  his  own  as  not  to  injure  others,  and 
so  as  not  to  interfere  with  or  injure  the  public  health,  safety,  morals, 
or  general  welfare.  How  can  an  alleged  law  that  purports  to  be  the 
result  of  an  exercise  of  the  police  power  be  such  in  reality  when  it 
has  for  its  only  object,  not  the  protection  of  others,  or  the  public 
health,  safety,  morals,  or  general  welfare,  but  the  welfare  of  him 
whose  act  is  prohibited,  when,  if  committed,  it  will  injure  him  who 
commits  it,  and  him  only  ?  What  we  mean  to  decide  is  that  in 
a  purely  private  lawful  business,  in  which  no  special  privilege  or 
license  has  been  granted  by  the  state,  and  the  carrying  on  of  which 
is  attended  by  no  injury  to  the  general  public,  it  is  beyond  the 
power  of  the  legislature  under  the  guise  of  the  police  power  to  pro- 
hibit an  adult  man  who  desires  to  work  thereat  from  working  more 
than  eight  hours  a  day  on  the  ground  that  working  longer  may,  or 
probably  will,  injure  his  own  health. 

The  result  of  our  deliberation  is  that  this  act  is  an  unwarrantable 
interference  with,  and  infringes  the  right  of,  both  the  employer  and 
employee  in  making  contracts  relating  to  a  purely  private  business 
in  which  no  possible  injury  to  the  public  can  result ;  that  it  unjustly 
and  arbitrarily  singles  out  a  class  of  persons,  and  imposes  upon  them 
restrictions  from  which  others  similarly  situated  and  substantially  in 
the  same  condition  are  exempt ;  and  that  it  is  not,  under  our  consti- 
tution, a  valid  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  this  state,  either  in  the 
subject  selected  or  in  the  reasonableness  of  the  regulation.1 

1  Following  this  decision  the  constitution  of  the  state  of  Colorado  was  amended 
so  as  to  authorize  a  law  similar  to  that  of  Utah. 


522 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


III.    EMPLOYMENT  OF  WOMEN  l 


By  act  approved  June  17,  1893,  the  legislature  of  Illinois 
undertook  "to  regulate. the  manufacture  of  clothing,  wearing 
apparel,  and  other  articles  in  this  state,  and  to  provide  for  the 
appointment  of  state  inspectors  to  enforce  the  same,  and  to 
make  an  appropriation  therefor." 

Upon  the  complaint  of  the  factory  inspector  appointed  under 
this  law  a  warrant  was  issued  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  Cook 
County  against  William  E.  Ritchie  for  violating  section  5  of 
the  statute  in  question  by  employing  a  certain  adult  female, 
more  than  eighteen  years  of  age,  at  work  in  a  factory  longer 
than  eight  hours  on  a  certain  day  in  February,  1894.  The  case 
was  tried  in  the  criminal  court  of  Cook  County,  on  appeal  from 
the  judgment  of  the  justice  of  the  peace,  and  the  defendant 
was  convicted  and  fined,  whereupon  the  case  was  brought,  on 
writ  of  error,  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  which  tribu- 
nal, on  March  14,  1895,  reversed  the  judgment  of  the  criminal 
court  and  decided  that  section  5  of  the  act  which  declares  that 
"  no  female  shall  be  employed  in  any  factory  or  workshop  more 
than  eight  hours  in  any  one  day  or  forty-eight  hours  in  any  one 
week"  is  unconstitutional.  Judge  Magruder  said  in  part: 

It  is  contended  by  counsel  for  plaintiff  in  error  that  that  section 
is  unconstitutional  as  imposing  unwarranted  restrictions  upon  the 
right  to  contract.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  by  counsel  for 
the  people  that  the  section  is  a  sanitary  provision  and  justifiable 
as  an  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  state.  Does  the  provision 
in  question  restrict  the  right  to  contract  ?  The  words  "  no  female 
shall  be  employed  "  import  action  on  the  part  of  two  persons.  There 
must  be  a  person  who  does  the  act  of  employing  and  a  person  who 
consents  to  the  act  of  being  employed.  Webster  defines  "employ- 
ment "  as  not  only  "  the  act  of  employing"  but  also  "  the  state  of 
being  employed."  The  prohibition  of  the  statute  is  therefore  two- 
fold :  first,  that  no  manufacturer  or  proprietor  of  a  factory  or  work- 
shop shall  employ  any  female  therein  more  than  eight  hours  in  one 
day;  and,  second,  that  no  female  shall  consent  to  be  so  employed. 
It  thus  prohibits  employer  and  employee  from  uniting  their  minds  or 
1  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  Ritchie  v.  People,  155  111.  98  (1895). 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  523 

agreeing  upon  any  longer  service  during  one  day  than  eight  hours. 
In  other  words,  they  are  prohibited,  the  one  from  contracting  to 
employ,  and  the  other  from  contracting  to  be  employed,  otherwise 
than  as  directed.  .  .  .  Section  2  of  article  2  of  the  constitution  of 
Illinois  provides  that  "  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty, 
or  property  without  due  process  of  law."  .  .  .  The  privilege  of  con- 
tracting is  both  a  liberty  and  property  right.  Liberty  includes  the 
right  to  acquire  property,  and  that  means  the  right  to  make  and 
enforce  contracts.  .  .  .  The  legislature  has  no  right  to  deprive  one 
class  of  persons  of  privileges  allowed  to  other  persons  under  like 
conditions.  The  man  who  is  forbidden  to  acquire  and  enjoy  prop- 
erty in  the  same  manner  in  which  the  rest  of  the  community  is  per- 
mitted to  acquire  and  enjoy  it  is  deprived  of  liberty  in  particulars 
of  primary  importance  to  his  pursuit  of  happiness.  If  one  man  is 
denied  the  right  to  contract  as  he  has  hitherto  done  under  the  law, 
and  as  others  are  still  allowed  to  do  by  the  law,  he  is  deprived  of 
both  liberty  and  property  to  the  extent  to  which  he  is  thus  deprived 
of  the  right.  .  .  .  Women  employed  by  manufacturers  are  forbidden 
by  section  5  to  make  contracts  to  labor  longer  than  eight  hours  in 
a  day,  while  women  employed  as  saleswomen  in  stores,  or  as  domes- 
tic servants,  or  as  bookkeepers,  or  stenographers,  or  typewriters,  or 
in  laundries,  or  other  occupations  not  embraced  under  the  head  of 
manufacturing  are  at  liberty  to  contract  for  as  many  hours  of  labor 
in  a  day  as  they  choose.  The  manner  in  which  the  section  thus 
discriminates  against  one  class  of  employers  and  employees  and  in 
favor  of  all  others  places  it  in  opposition  to  the  constitutional  guar- 
anties hereinbefore  discussed,  and  so  renders  it  invalid. 

But  aside  from  its  partial  and  discriminating  character,  this  enact- 
ment is  a  purely  arbitrary  restriction  upon  the  fundamental  rights 
of  the  citizen  to  control  his  or  her  own  time  and  faculties.  It 
substitutes  the  judgment  of  the  legislature  for  the  judgment  of 
the  employer  and  employee  in  a  matter  about  which  they  are  com- 
petent to  agree  with  each  other.  It  assumes  to  dictate  to  what 
extent  the  capacity  to  labor  may  be  exercised  by  the  employee,  and 
takes  away  the  right  of  private  judgment  as  to  the  amount  and 
duration  of  the  labor  to  be  put  forth  in  a  specified  period.  Where 
the  legislature  thus  undertakes  to  impose  an  unreasonable  and 
unnecessary  burden  upon  any  one  citizen  or  class  of  citizens  it 
transcends  the  authority  intrusted  to  it  by  the  constitution,  even 
though  it  imposes  the  same  burden  upon  all  other  citizens  or  classes 
of  citizens.  General  laws  may  be  as  tyrannical  as  partial  laws.  .  .  . 


524         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

But  it  is  claimed  on  behalf  of  defendant  in  error  that  this  section 
can  be  sustained  as  an  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  state. 
The  police  power  of  the  state  is  that  power  which  enables  it  to  pro- 
mote the  health,  comfort,  safety,  and  welfare  of  society.  It  is  very 
broad  and  far  reaching,  but  is  not  without  its  limitations.  Legisla- 
tive acts  passed  in  pursuance  of  it  must  not  be  in  conflict  with  the 
constitution,  and  must  have  some  relation  to  the  ends  sought  to  be 
accomplished ;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  comfort,  welfare,  or  safety  of 
society.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  in  the  title  of  the  act  of  1893  to 
indicate  that  it  is  a  sanitary  measure.  The  first  three  sections  con- 
tain provisions  for  keeping  workshops  in  a  cleanly  state,  and  for 
inspection  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  so  kept.  But  there  is 
nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  employment  contemplated  by  the  act 
which  is  in  itself  unhealthful  or  unlawful  or  injurious  to  the  public 
morals  or  welfare.  ...  It  is  not  the  nature  of  the  things  done,  but 
the  sex  of  the  persons  doing  them,  which  is  made  the  basis  of  the 
claim  that  the  act  is  a  measure  for  the  promotion  of  the  public 
health.  It  is  sought  to  sustain  the  act  as  an  exercise  of  the  police 
power  upon  the  alleged  ground  that  it  is  designed  to  protect  woman 
on  account  of  her  sex  and  physique.  It  will  not  be  denied  that 
woman  is  entitled  to  the  same  rights,  under  the  constitution,  to 
make  contracts  with  reference  to  her  labor  as  are  secured  thereby 
to  men.  .  .  .  Inasmuch  as  sex  is  no  bar,  under  the  constitution 
and  law,  to  the  endowment  of  woman  with  the  fundamental  and 
inalienable  rights  of  liberty  and  property,  which  include  the  right 
to  make  her  own  contracts,  the  mere  fact  of  sex  will  not  justify  the 
legislature  in  putting  forth  the  police  power  of  the  state  for  the 
purpose  of  limiting  her  exercise  of  those  rights,  unless  the  courts 
are  able  to  see  that  there  is  some  fair,  just,  and  reasonable  connec- 
tion between  such  limitation  and  the  public  health,  safety,  or  wel- 
fare proposed  to  be  secured  by  it. 

In  another  case  illustrating  this  topic  arising  in  the  state  of 
Nebraska,1  William  Wenham  was  convicted  of  a  violation  of 
an  act  of  the  legislature  which  restricts  the  hours  of  employ- 
ment of  females  in  certain  industries,  and  provides  for  the 
enforcement  of  its  requirements.  It  was  charged  that  Wen- 
ham  in  operating  a  laundry  bad  employed  one  'Lizzie  Falconer 
for  fourteen  hours  per  day  and  eighty-four  hours  per  week. 

1  Supreme  Court  of  Nebraska.     Wenham  v.  Slate,  65  Neb.  394  (1902). 


STATE  REGULATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  525 

Section  i  of  the  law  referred  to  provides  "that  no  female 
shall  be  employed  in  any  manufacturing,  mechanical,  or  mer- 
cantile establishment,  hotel,  or  restaurant  in  this  state  more 
than  sixty  hours  during  any  one  week,  and  that  ten  hours  shall 
constitute  a  day's  labor.  .  .  ."  Before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  state  the  law  was  upheld  and  the  conviction  affirmed. 
Judge  Barnes  said  : 

In  the  case  of  Com.  v.  Hamilton  Mfg.  Co.,  120  Mass.  383,  it  was 
held  that  a  statute  prohibiting  the  employment  of  all  persons  under 
the  age  of  eighteen  and  all  women  from  laboring  in  any  manufactur- 
ing establishment  more  than  sixty  hours  per  week  violates  no  con- 
tract of  the  commonwealth  implied  in  the  granting  of  a  charter  to 
a  manufacturing  company  nor  any  right  reserved  under  the  con- 
stitution to  any  individual  citizen,  and  may  be  maintained  as  a 
health  or  police  regulation.  The  act  in  question  was  taken  from, 
and  is  practically  an  enactment  of,  the  statutes  of  Massachusetts ; 
and  we  may  fairly  presume  that  our  legislature  in  adopting  this  act 
also  adopted  the  law  relating  to  it,  as  announced  by  the  supreme 
judicial  tribunal  of  that  state.  In  many  of  the  states  laws  have 
been  enacted  limiting  the  hours  during  which  women  and  chil- 
dren shall  be  employed  in  factories.  While  in  some  of  these  states 
the  constitutionality  of  these  laws,  as  applied  to  women,  has  been 
doubted,  yet  in  most  of  them  they  have  been  upheld.  .  .  . 

The  members  of  the  legislature  come  from  no  particular  class. 
They  are  elected  from  every  portion  of  the  state,  and  come  from 
every  avocation  and  from  all  the  walks  of  life.  They  have  observed 
the  conditions  with  which  they  are  surrounded,  and  know  from 
experience  what  laws  are  necessary  to  be  enacted  for  the  welfare  of 
the  communities  in  which  they  reside.  They  determined  that  the 
law  in  question  was  necessary  for  the  public  good,  and  the  protec- 
tion of  the  health  and  well-being  of  women  engaged  in  labor  in  the 
establishments  mentioned  in  the  act.  That  question  was  one  exclu- 
sively within  their  power  and  jurisdiction,  and  their  action  should 
not  be  interfered  with  by  the  courts  unless  their  power  has  been 
improperly  or  oppressively  exercised.  Women  and  children  have 
always,  to  a  certain  extent,  been  wards  of  the  state.  Women  in 
recent  years  have  been  partly  emancipated  from  their  common-law 
disabilities.  They  now  have  a  limited  right  to  contract.  They  may 
own  property,  real  and  personal,  in  their  own  right,  and  may  engage 
in  business  on  their  own  account.  But  they  have  no  voice  in  the 


526         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

enactment  of  the  laws  by  which  they  are  governed,  and  can  take 
no  part  in  municipal  affairs.  They  are  unable,  by  reason  of  their 
physical  limitations,  to  endure  the  same  hours  of  exhaustive  labor 
as  may  be  endured  by  adult  males.  Certain  kinds  of  work  which 
may  be  performed  by  men  without  injury  to  their  health  would 
wreck  the  constitutions  and  destroy  the  health  of  women,  and  ren- 
der them  incapable  of  bearing  their  share  of  the  burdens  of  the 
family  and  the  home.  The  state  must  be  accorded  the  right  to 
guard  and  protect  women  as  a  class  against  such  a  condition ;  and 
the  law  in  question  to  that  extent  conserves  the  public  health  and 
welfare.  On  the  question  of  the  right  to  contract,  we  may  well 
declare  a  law  unconstitutional  which  interferes  with  or  abridges  the 
right  of  adult  males  to  contract  with  each  other  in  any  of  the  busi- 
ness affairs  or  vocations  of  life.  The  employer  and  the  laborer  are 
practically  on  an  equal  footing,  but  these  observations  do  not  apply 
to  women  and  children.  Of  the  many  vocations  in  this  country 
comparatively  few  are  open  to  women.  Their  field  of  remunerative 
labor  is  restricted.  Competition  for  places  therein  is  necessarily 
great.  The  desire  for  place,  and  in  many  instances  the  necessity  of 
obtaining  employment,  would  subject  them  to  hardships  and  exac- 
tions which  they  would  not  otherwise  endure.  The  employer  who 
seeks  to  obtain  the  most  hours  of  labor  for  the  least  wages  has  such 
an  advantage  over  them  that  the  wisdom  of  the  law  for  their  pro- 
tection cannot  well  be  questioned.  No  doubt,  these  considerations 
were  the  moving  cause  for  the  passage  of  the  law  in  question.  If 
the  act  is  the  result  of  a  fair,  reasonable  exercise  of  police  power, 
it  should  be  upheld.  By  the  general  police  power  of  the  state  per- 
sons and  property  are  subjected  to  many  restraints  and  burdens  in 
order  to  secure  the  general  comfort,  health,  and  prosperity  of  the 
state.  The  perfect  right  of  the  legislature  to  so  exercise  such  power 
has  never  been  questioned  where  it  was  reasonably  exercised.  We 
are  unable  to  find  a  case  where  the  courts  have  laid  down  any  rigid 
rule  for  the  exercise  of  police  power.  There  is  little  reason,  under 
our  system  of  government,  for  placing  a  narrow  interpretation  on 
this  power,  or  restricting  its  scope  so  as  to  hamper  the  legislature 
in  dealing  with  the  varying  necessities  of  society  and  new  circum- 
stances as  they  arise,  calling  for  legislative  intervention  in  the  pub- 
lic interest.  The  moment  the  police  power  is  destroyed  or  curbed 
by  fixed  or  rigid  rules  a  danger  will  be  introduced  into  our  system 
which  would  be  far  greater  than  the  results  arising  from  an  occa- 
sional mistake  by  legislative  bodies  in  exercising  such  power. 


XXIV 

THE  BENEFIT  SYSTEM   OF  THE   CIGAR 
MAKERS'   UNION 

The  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  is,  with  respect  to 
the  variety  and  the  value  of  its  benefits,  the  model  beneficiary 
organization  of  the  United  States.  Though  the  system  of  the 
Cigar  Makers  is  not  yet  as  complete  as  is  maintained  by  many 
English  unions,  it  already  includes  strike,  sick,  death,  disability, 
traveling,  and  out-of-work  benefits,  while  a  vigorous  agitation  is 
in  progress  for  the  introduction  of  the  superannuation  benefit. 
This  union  is  deliberately  based  upon  the  principle  of  high  dues 
and  an  elaborate  beneficial  system.  Each  of  its  41,536  mem- 
bers contributes  $3  initiation  fee  and  30  cents  per  week  in 
dues,  while  from  1879  to  19°4>  inclusive,  the  organization  has 
paid  out  about  $6,400,000  in  benefits  of  all  kinds.  Its  growth 
in  membership  has  been  steady  and  permanent,  and  has  not 
been  characterized  either  by  sudden  increases  or  by  sudden 
decreases.  As  compared  with  other  American  labor  organiza- 
tions the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  is  remarkable  for 
its  comparatively  slow  but  certain  growth  and  for  the  few 
fluctuations  in  its  prosperity. 

The  first  national  union  of  cigar  makers  was  effected  in 
1864,  and  in  1867  this  organization  adopted  the  name  Cigar 
Makers'  International  Union  of  America.  It  was  not,  however, 
until  the  convention  at  Buffalo  in  1879  tnat  t^e  beneficial  sys- 
tem as  now  existing  was  begun  by  the  introduction  of  loans 
for  the  support  of  traveling  members.  At  the  same  time  the 
strike  benefit  was  reorganized  and  new  and  better  regulations 
adopted.  The  effect  upon  the  membership  of  the  union  was 
immediate.  In  1865  there  were  984  members,  and  in  1869, 

527 


528        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

5800,  falling  to  3771  in  1873  an<^  to  1016  in  1877.  In  1879 
the  membership  was  2729,*  but  by  1880  it  had  risen  to  4440. 

At  the  Chicago  convention  in  1880  sick  and  death  benefits 
were  added,  and  in  1881  the  membership  jumped  to  14,604, 
falling,  however,  in  1882  to  11,430.  A  previous  attempt  had 
been  made,  as  early  as  1873,  to  introduce  a  death  benefit  which 
was  to  be  supported  by  an  assessment  of  10  cents  per  mem- 
ber to  be  levied  after  each  death,  but  the  members  refused 
to  pay  the  assessment  and  the  plan  was  a  failure.  The  death 
benefit  as  adopted  in  r88o  amounted  simply  to  the  payment  of 
$40  toward  defraying  funeral  expenses,  but  in  1887  there  was 
added  to  this  funeral  benefit  a  plan  of  insurance  for  all  mem- 
bers of  five  years'  standing,  the  amount  paid  being  from  $200 
to  $550  according  to  length  of  membership.  In  1887,  more- 
over, a  wife's  funeral  benefit  was  established,  and  in  1893  this 
was  extended  to  the  dependent  mothers  of  single  members. 
Another  change  made  in  1887  was  a  provision  to  the  effect 
that  a  member  of  three  years'  standing,  on  drawing  a  retiring 
card,  could  retain  his  title  to  sick  and  death  benefits  by  the 
payment  of  10  cents  per  week  and  the  special  semiannual  tax 
of  50  cents.  Meanwhile  the  membership,  which  had  risen  to 
13, 214  in  1883,  falling  again  to  11,871  in  1884  and  attaining 
12,000  in  1885,  rose  to  24,672  in  1886,  and  never  again  sank 
below  17,000. 

Very  soon  after  the  introduction  of  the  traveling,  sick,  and 
death  benefits  an  agitation  began  in  favor  of  some  system  of 
out-of-work  or  unemployed  benefit.  This  was,  of  course,  the 
greatest  departure  yet  attempted  from  the  established  practice 
of  labor  organizations  in  this  country.  Sick  and  death  bene- 
fits are  comparatively  common,  but  the  Cigar  Makers'  Inter- 
national Union  was  a  pioneer  among  American  labor  organiza- 
tions in  the  field  of  out-of-work  benefits.  The  arguments 
advanced  in  favor  of  the  system  were,  not  only  that  it  would 

1  The  figures  before  1879  are  from  the  Report  of  the  Industrial  Commission, 
Vol.  XVII,  p.  280,  while  those  for  1879  an<^  succeeding  years  are  taken  from  the 
Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  May,  1904.  From  1879  to  1881,  inclusive,  these  two 
sets  of  figures  do  not  correspond. 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION     529 

relieve  the  distress  of  unemployed  members,  but  that  it  would 
further  the  main  object  of  the  union,  the  maintenance  and 
improvement  of  trade  conditions.  As  early  as  the  1885  con- 
vention President  Strasser  urged  that  the  success  of  strikes 
depended  upon  the  attitude  of  the  unemployed,  and  at  the  1887 
convention  he  said,  referring  to  the  out-of-work  benefit: 

By  supporting  our  members  in  such  emergency,  they  will  have  no 
excuse  for  working  below  the  regular  scale ;  nor  will  they  have  an 
excuse  for  accepting  conditions  of  employment  which  are  injurious 
to  the  interests  of  their  fellow-workmen.  It  will  instill  into  them  more 
manhood  and  independence  to  resist  encroachments  of  employers  in 
times  of  depression.  It  will  be  the  strongest  feature  to  maintain  the 
rate  of  wages  which  has  been  secured  during  the  favorable  seasons 
of  trade. 

The  English  unions,  too,  were  cited  to  show  the  steady 
growth  of  organizations  having  strong  beneficial  systems,  and 
the  fluctuations  of  the  American  labor  movement  as  compared 
with  the  English  were  attributed  to  the  lack  of  benefits. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  opponents  of  the  out-of-work  benefit 
urged  that,  while  the  sick  and  death  payments  bore  certain 
approximate  proportions  to  the  membership  of  the  union,  the 
number  of  unemployed  members  was  dependent  solely  upon 
trade  conditions,  and  in  case  of  industrial  depression  might 
increase  so  rapidly  as  to  swamp  the  union.  It  was  also  asserted 
that  the  20  cents  per  week  paid  in  dues  at  that  time  was 
already  high  enough  to  keep  out  of  the  union  seven  eighths  of 
the  cigar  makers  of  the  country,  and  that  the  dues  ought  to  be 
lowered  rather  than  raised  the  additional  10  cents  requisite  to 
maintain  this  benefit.  Apprehension  was  expressed,  moreover, 
that  an  out-of-work  benefit  would  be  the  source  of  a  great  deal 
of  abuse  and  annoyance. 

In  1885  the  committee  on  officers'  reports  failed  to  agree 
to  the  president's  recommendation  for  an  out-of-work  benefit, 
and  in  1887,  in  spite  of  the  support  of  both  the  president  and 
the  committee,  the  plan  was  defeated  in  the  convention  after  a 
long  discussion.  In  1889,  however,  the  out-of-work  benefit  was 
adopted,  and  very  soon  the  misgivings  in  regard  to  its  practical 


530         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

application  were  dispelled.  Several  changes  have  been  made 
in  the  details  of  administration,  but  the  principle  remains  as 
originally  adopted. 

The  benefits  paid  in  1905  by  the  Cigar  Makers'  International 
Union  of  America  were  as  follows:  (i)  strike  benefit,  paid  also 
in  case  of  lockout  or  victimization ;  (2)  sick  benefit,  payable  in 
case  of  sickness  or  disablement;  (3)  death  benefit,  including 
the  insurance  payment  as  well  as  funeral  benefit,  and  also 
the  wife's  and  mother's  funeral  benefit;  (4)  disability  benefit; 
(5)  traveling  benefit,  or  loans  to  traveling  members  ;  and  (6) 
out-of-work  or  unemployed  benefit.  No  member  is  entitled  to 
receive  more  than  one  of  the  weekly  benefits,  such  as  strike, 
sick,  and  out-of-work  benefits,  at  the  same  time.  The  Cigar 
Makers  Official  Journal  for  April,  1905,  publishes  a  table 
showing  the  amounts  paid  for  each  of  the  benefits,  and  also 
the  cash  balance,  by  years.  In  1904  there  were  paid  out :  as 
strike  benefit,  $32,888.88;  as  sick  benefit,  $163,226.18;  as 
death  benefit,  $151,752.93;  as  traveling  benefit,  $58,728.71; 
and  as  out-of-work  benefit,  $29,872.50. 

Members  who  have  been  in  good  standing  for  at  least  three 
months  are  entitled  to  a  strike  benefit,  provided  the  strike  is 
approved  by  the  proper  authorities  of  the  International  Union, 
of  $5  per  week  for  the  first  sixteen  weeks,  and  $3  per  week 
until  the  strike  or  lockout  shall  have  terminated.  The  assist- 
ance in  case  of  a  lockout  is  the  same  as  in  case  of  a  strike, 
and  any  member  who  is  discharged  by  his  employer  on  account 
of  having  carried  out  the  orders  of  his  union  is  entitled  to  the 
same  payments  as  if  he  were  out  on  strike.  If  a  striker  secures 
work  and  is  then  discharged  within  fourteen  days,  he  remains 
entitled  to  benefit  as  a  striker;  but  if  he  retains  this  employ- 
ment for  over  fourteen  days  and  is  then  discharged,  he  is 
entitled  to  no  further  strike  payments. 

Members  who  have  been  such  continuously  for  one  year  or 
more  are  entitled  to  a  benefit  of  $5  per  week  in  case  they 
become  sick  or  disabled  in  such  manner  as  to  render  them 
unable  to  work.  This  sickness  or  inability,  however,  must  have 
lasted  for  at  least  one  week,  or  seven  days,  "and  shall  not 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION     531 

have  been  caused  by  intemperance,  debauchery,  or  other 
immoral  conduct."  This  latter  provision  is  found  in  the  same 
or  similar  language  in  practically  every  union  which  pays  a 
sick  benefit.  The  Cigar  Makers  also  provide  that  no  member 
leaving  the  United  States  or  the  Dominion  of  Canada  shall 
be  entitled  to  any  benefit  during  his  absence.  Moreover,  the 
constitution  states  that  "female  members  .  .  .  shall  not  be 
entitled  to  any  sick  benefit  three  weeks  before  and  five  weeks 
after  confinement."  Each  member  is  entitled  to  receive  sick 
benefit  for  a  period  of  thirteen  weeks  in  each  year,  commencing 
from  the  date  of  the  first  report  made  to  an  officer  of  the  union. 
Members  of  less  than  one  year's  standing  are  not,  of  course, 
entitled  to  sick  benefit,  but  there  is  a  constitutional  provision 
that  they  shall  not  be  suspended  for  nonpayment  of  dues, 
during  sickness  or  disability,  accompanied  by  the  condition 
that  they  shall  upon  resuming  work  pay  10  per  cent  of  their 
wages  towards  making  up  the  arrears  until  the  constitutional 
limit  is  reached.  This  does  not,  however,  excuse  such  members 
from  paying  their  percentages  on  loans,  fines,  or  other  indebted- 
ness during  the  time  of  sickness.  A  member  taken  sick  while 
traveling  has  only  to  deposit  his  card  with  the  union  under 
whose  jurisdiction  he  is  at  the  time  in  order  to  receive  his 
benefit  from  the  International  Union,  provided  he  has  not  left 
the  United  States  or  Canada. 

There  are  a  number  of  provisions  designed  to  guard  the  sick 
benefit  from  fraud.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  provided  that  there 
shall  be  visiting  committees  of  not  less  than  three  officers  or 
members,  who  shall  visit  sick  persons  at  least  once  a  week,  no  two 
of  the  committee  visiting  a  member  at  the  same  time.  Mem- 
bers are  obliged  to  furnish  the  financial  secretary  of  their  local 
with  their  correct  address  and  to  notify  him  immediately  of  all 
changes.  For  failure  to  do  this  or  to  perform  their  duties  as 
visiting  committee  they  are  fined  50  cents.  Members  holding 
retiring  cards  but  entitled  to  sick  benefits,  as  well  as  active 
members,  may  be  required  to  serve  on  these  visiting  com- 
mittees. If  the  visiting  committee  is  refused  admittance  to  the 
house  or  is  not  allowed  to  see  the  sick  member,  the  union  is 


532         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

not  obliged  to  pay  the  weekly  allowance,  but  the  committee  is 
excused  from  visiting  members  having  contagious  diseases. 
When  the  committee  has  made  its  report,  if  there  is  no  doubt 
of  the  sickness  or  inability  of  the  member  claiming  benefits, 
the  executive  board  of  the  union  is  empowered  to  draw  on  the 
treasurer  for  the  sick  benefit,  and  to  report  the  fact  in  writing  at 
the  next  regular  meeting  of  the  union.  But  if  there  is  any  doubt, 
the  executive  board  may  take  the  opinion  of  a  physician  ap- 
pointed by  the  union.  Physicians'  certificates,  however,  are  not 
accepted  unless  ordered  by  the  union  or  the  visiting  committee. 
Uniform  cards  for  receipts  for  sick  benefits  and  also  for  physi- 
cians' certificates  are  issued  by  the  international  president. 
There  is  a  fine  of  $25  for  officers  granting  sick  benefit  other- 
wise than  as  specified  in  the  rules. 

The  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  pays,  on  the  decease 
of  a  member  who  has  been  such  for  two  years,  a  death  benefit 
of  $50.  This  is  designed  to  assist  in  the  payment  of  funeral 
or  cremation  expenses,  and  is  paid  to  the  nearest  of  kin  or 
whoever  has  the  burial  in  charge.  It  is,  of  course,  simply  a 
funeral  benefit.  For  members  of  five  years'  standing,  however, 
the  death  benefit  is  $200,  for  those  of  ten  years'  standing  $350, 
and  for  those  of  fifteen  years'  standing  $550.  Here  the  idea  of 
provision  for  the  family  through  insurance  is  uppermost,  and 
this  benefit  has  been  since  1893  payable  to  the  person  desig- 
nated by  the  member  on  joining  the  union.  This  beneficiary 
may  be  changed  at  any  time,  and  if  a  member  fails  to  designate 
any  one  to  receive  the  money  it  is  to  be  paid  to  his  heirs  at  law. 
If,  however,  he  designates  no  one,  and  no  claim  is  made  by 
the  heirs  within  one  year  after  the  death  of  the  member,  the 
beneficiary  money  reverts  to  the  union.  Before  the  benefit  is 
paid,  moreover,  all  international  and  local  indebtedness  of  the 
deceased  member  is  deducted.  No  sick  or  death  benefits  are 
granted  if  the  performance  of  military  duties  is  the  cause  of 
sickness  or  death.  In  case  there  is  no  one  to  take  charge  of 
the  funeral  of  a  deceased  member,  that  duty  devolves  upon  the 
president  of  the  local  union,  who  is  authorized  to  expend  upon 
the  burial  the  $50  funeral  benefit  of  a  member  of  two  years' 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION      533 

standing,  or,  in  case  the  member  is  entitled  to  $200  or  more 
death  benefit,  a  sum  not  to  exceed  $100.  Any  member  of 
fifteen  years'  standing  who  has  become  incapable  of  working  at 
the  trade  is  allowed  to  retain  his  claim  on  the  death  benefit  by 
the  payment  of  10  cents  per  month,  payable  quarterly. 

A  married  member  of  two  years'  standing  is  entitled,  on  the 
death  of  his  wife,  to  a  funeral  benefit  of  $40,  provided  that 
the  wife  was  not  engaged  in  the  cigar-making  industry  or  not 
entitled,  as  a  member  of  the  International  Union,  to  the  death 
benefits  as  previously  described.  An  unmarried  member,  more- 
over, is  entitled  to  the  same  benefit  in  case  of  the  death  of 
a  widowed  mother  who  was  dependent  solely  upon  him  for 
support.  No  member,  however,  may  receive  this  benefit  more 
than  once,  and  it  is  not  payable  to  members  who  have  drawn 
retiring  cards  by  reason  of  quitting  the  trade,  even  though  by 
the  payment  of  20  cents  per  week  and  all  assessments  they  may 
still  be  entitled  to  receive  ordinary  sick  and  death  benefits. 

Obviously,  the  death  benefit,  as  compared  with  the  other 
benefits,  offers  little  opportunity  for  fraud.  Nevertheless,  there 
are  certain  rules  designed  to  prevent  irregularities.  The  secre- 
tary of  the  local  union,  for  instance,  must  notify  the  International 
president  of  the  death  of  any  member  entitled  to  more  than  $50 
benefit,  giving  the  full  record  of  membership  of  the  deceased  as 
shown  in  the  books  of  the  local,  and  the  International  president 
must  compare  this  with  the  record  of  the  International  office 
before  the  local  is  permitted  to  pay  the  benefit.  "Any  local 
union  violating  this  section  shall  be  held  liable  for  any  amount 
they  may  have  paid  over  and  above  the  amount  the  International 
records  show  said  deceased  member  to  be  entitled  to."  The 
International  president  publishes  in  the  Cigar  Makers'  Official 
Journal  the  names,  ages,  and  causes  of  death  of  the  members 
on  whose  account  the  death  benefit  has  been  paid. 

The  disability  benefit  is  a  substitute  for  the  death  benefit. 
That  is,  if  a  member  has  "  through  total  blindness  or  the  loss 
of  both  hands  become  permanently  incapacitated  for  perform- 
ing any  kind  of  labor,"  the  International  executive  board,  at 
the  request  of  the  local  union,  and  after  a  conclusive  and 


534 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


satisfactory  investigation,  may  cause  the  payment  direct  to  the 
disabled  person  of  whatever  death  benefit  he  is  entitled  to  at 
the  date  of  application.  Within  ten  days  after  receiving  this 
disability  benefit  the  member  is  issued  a  final  withdrawal  cer- 
tificate, and  he  is  thereafter  subject  to  no  further  benefits  by 
reason  of  sickness  or  death. 

The  system  of  loans  to  traveling  members  is  the  oldest  of 
the  Cigar  Makers'  benefits,  but  the  payments  are  on  a  different 
basis  from  the  others,  owing  to  the  fact  that  repayment  is 
expected.  The  union  constitutes  itself  a  loan  agency  for  the 
benefit  of  its  members,  carefully  guarding  itself,  however,  from 
the  possibility  of  loss.  Any  member  in  good  standing  for  one 
year,  who  is  unable  to  obtain  employment  and  wishes  to  try 
another  location,  is  entitled  to  a  loan  sufficient  for  transporta- 
tion, by  the  cheapest  route,  to  the  nearest  union  in  any  direc- 
tion desired,  and  also  to  a  loan  of  50  cents,  excluding  the  fare. 
The  loans,  however,  shall  not  exceed  in  the  aggregate  $20, 
and  no  more  than  $8  shall  be  loaned  to  a  member  at  any 
one  time.  No  member  may  receive  a  second  loan  until  the 
first  one  is  paid,  and  the  amount  paid  is  credited  in  the  order 
that  the  loans  were  drawn.  When  a  member  has  traveled  the 
required  number  of  miles,  as  registered  in  his  loan  book,  he  is 
entitled  to  a  loan  from  any  other  union.  But  if  a  member 
loses  or  destroys  his  loan  book,  he  is  not  entitled  to  receive 
any  benefits  or  a  duplicate  loan  book  until  after  two  months, 
during  which  time  the  loss  is  published  in  the  Official  Journal. 
The  International  Union  is  able  to  trace  members,  whether 
traveling  on  loans  or  not,  from  union  to  union,  and  thus  to 
avoid  duplication  of  benefit  payments,  by  means  of  the  provi- 
sion of  the  constitution  that  every  traveling  member  shall  carry 
a  traveling  card  showing  his  standing,  the  number  of  weeks 
during  which  he  has  received  sick  and  out-of-work  benefits,  and 
so  forth.  Any  member  leaving  the  jurisdiction  of  a  local  union 
and  failing  to  provide  himself  with  such  a  card  is  fined  50  cents, 
and  any  member  failing  to  deposit  his  card  with  the  nearest 
union  after  moving  is  fined  10  cents  per  day  for  the  first  thirty 
days,  and  is  then  expelled  from  the  union. 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION     535 

The  officer  intrusted  with  the  duty  of  granting  loans  is  the 
financial  secretary  of  the  local  union,  and  he  is  governed  by 
strict  rules  in  the  performance  of  this  duty.  Blanks  to  be 
filled  out  are  furnished  by  the  International  Union,  and  finan- 
cial secretaries  are  required  to  report  monthly  to  the  •Inter- 
national president  all  loans  granted  and  collected  on  cards, 
with  the  names  of  the  members  concerned  and  their  numbers. 
Careful  records  are  kept  at  the  office  of  the  International 
Union,  and  every  six  months  the  names  of  persons  delinquent 
ninety  days  in  the  payment  of  loans  are  published  in  a  supple- 
ment to  the  Official  Journal.  The  following  provisions  in  regard 
to  the  issuing  of  loans  appear  in  the  constitution  of  the  Inter- 
national Union  : 

The  financial  secretary  in  issuing  duplicate  loan  cards  shall  enter 
in  red  ink  the  balance  due  on  the  member's  old  card,  and  punch  out 
the  amount  due.  No  indorsement  of  loans  paid  in  a  member's  loan 
book  shall  be  considered  valid  by  financial  secretaries  unless  stamped 
with  financial  secretary's  seal.  Members  who  have  grievances  caused 
by  the  foregoing  may  by  application  to  the  International  president 
have  their  accounts  corrected  according  to  International  accounts. 
Secretaries  must  use  financial  secretary's  seal  as  a  receipt  for  loans 
paid,  stamped  over  their  signatures  in  member's  loan  cards.  Failing 
herein  they  shall  be  fined  $5,  such  fines  to  be  remitted  to  the  Inter- 
national Union. 

Moreover,  any  financial  secretary  granting  a  loan  larger  than 
the  amount  specified  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  the 
amount  which  he  granted  over  $20,  which  is  obtained  by  col- 
lecting 25  per  cent  of  his  wages.  Members,  too,  who  attempt  to 
alter  or  erase  any  figure  or  change  any  sum  in  their  loan  books 
are  fined  $25  for  the  first  offense,  and  are  expelled  from  the 
union  and  their  names  published  in  the  Official  Journal  f  or  the 
second  offense.  If  such  a  person  should  again  desire  to  become 
a  member,  he  is  obliged  to  pay  an  initiation  fee  of  at  least 
$25,  together  with  all  loans,  fines,  and  assessments  previously 
incurred,  and  to  pay  25  per  cent  of  his  weekly  earnings  until 
his  indebtedness  is  canceled.  A  member  accepting  an  illegal 
loan  is  fined  $5  for  each  offense. 


536         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

The  repayment  of  the  loans  is  provided  for  carefully  and  in 
detail.  Every  shop  must  have  a  collector,  who  is  charged  with 
the  duty  of  collecting  all  fines,  assessments,  dues,  and  loans, 
and  paying  over  the  sums  received  to  the  secretary  of  the 
union,.  The  shop  collector  may  be  elected  by  the  members 
in  the  shop,  but  if  these  fail  to  do  so  he  is  appointed  by  the 
president  of  the  local  union.  If  but  one  union  man  is  employed, 
he  is  the  collector.  In  a  town  where  there  is  more  than  one 
shop  the  members  elect  also  a  town  collector,  who  receives  the 
money  from  the  various  shop  collectors  and  turns  it  over  within 
forty-eight  hours  to  the  secretary  of  the  union.  The  loans  are 
repaid  at  the  rate  of  10  per  cent  of  the  weekly  earnings,  but 
if  a  member  goes  to  work  the  latter  part  of  the  week  he  is 
allowed  until  Saturday  of  the  following  week,  when  he  is 
obliged  to  pay  10  per  cent  of  his  aggregate  earnings  during 
the  entire  time.  If  a  member  refuses  or  neglects  to  pay  to  the 
shop  collector  his  percentage  on  loans  received  from  the  union, 
he  is  suspended,  forfeits  all  previous  rights  and  benefits,  and 
can  be  reinstated  only  upon  the  payment  of  $3,  being  con- 
sidered a  new  member  except  for  the  fact  that  he  is  still  liable 
for  the  indebtedness  previously  incurred.  The  shop  collector 
reports  such  refusal  or  neglect  to  the  financial  secretary,  and  is 
liable  to  a  fine  of  $i  if  he  fails  to  do  so.  The  financial  secre- 
tary and  the  shop  collector  are  both  responsible  under  penalty 
for  the  enforcement  of  every  detail  of  this  system  of  repayment. 

The  traveling  and  sick  benefits  are  paid  to  members  of  one 
year's  standing,  but  the  out-of-work  benefit,  like  the  death  bene- 
fit, is  paid  only  to  members  who  have  paid  weekly  dues  for 
a  period  of  two  years.  Members  who  are  not  entitled  to  the 
benefit,  however,  are  not  suspended  for  nonpayment  of  dues 
and  assessments,  provided  they  report  themselves  out  of  work 
at  least  twice  a  week.  They  are  obliged  upon  obtaining  em- 
ployment to  pay  at  least  10  per  cent  of  their  weekly  wages 
until  they  have  established  themselves  within  the  constitutional 
limit,  and,  if  they  remain  out  of  work  until  entitled  to  benefit, 
all  dues  and  assessments  are  deducted  before  the  benefit  is 
paid.  Such  members  must  obtain  signed  and  sealed  certificates 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION     537 

from  the  financial  secretary  to  whom  they  have  reported  during 
their  nonemployment. 

The  amount  of  the  out-of-work  benefit  is  $3  per  week,  and 
50  cents  for  each  additional  day,  but  no  benefit  is  paid  during 
the  first  week  of  employment.  Members  drawing  benefit  for 
less  than  six  days,  moreover,  are  stricken  from  the  list.  After 
having  received  benefit  for  six  weeks  a  member  is  not  entitled 
to  any  further  benefit  for  seven  weeks  thereafter,  and  no  mem- 
ber may  receive  more  than  $54  during  any  one  year,  com- 
mencing July  i.  When  a  member  under  fifty  years  of  age  has 
received  the  full  benefit  of  $54  in  the  year  he  must  have  worked 
for  four  weeks  before  he  is  again  entitled  to  benefit,  but  this 
does  not  apply  to  members  over  fifty  years  of  age,  who  may 
apparently  draw  the  full  $54  every  year  without  working  at 
the  trade  at  all,  thus  practically  receiving  a  superannuation 
benefit  to  that  amount. 

Any  member  who  obtains  employment  before  receiving  six 
weeks'  benefit,  and  is  then  discharged  before  eight  weeks  have 
elapsed,  is  entitled  to  the  balance  of  his  benefit,  but  a  member 
obtaining  employment  for  two  days  or  longer  before  his  regis- 
tration has  entitled  him  to  benefit,  that  is,  before  the  first  week 
of  unemployment  has  elapsed,  forfeits  his  previous  registration. 
Members  who  have  received  four  weeks'  strike  or  sick  benefit 
are  not  entitled  to  out-of-work  benefit  for  four  weeks  thereafter, 
and  sick  members  incapable  of  doing  a  day's  work  are  not  con- 
sidered as  out  of  work.  No  out-of-work  benefit  is  paid  from 
June  I  till  September  23,  nor  from  December  16  to  January 
15, — dull  seasons  in  the  trade,  — and  members  who  are  unem- 
ployed during  these  times  have  no  privileges  except  that  from 
June  i  to  September  23  they  may,  by  obtaiaing  a  certificate 
and  reporting  themselves  out  of  work  to  the  financial  secretary 
at  least  once  a  week,  obtain  remission  from  suspension  for  non- 
payment of  dues  and  assessments.  As  in  the  case  of  members 
who  have  not  been  such  long  enough  to  be  entitled  to  out- 
of-work  benefits,  however,  this  privilege  must  later  be  paid 
for  by  giving  the  collector  of  the  union  10  per  cent  of  the 
weekly  earnings  until  within  the  constitutional  limit,  or,  if  the 


538         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

unemployment  continues,  by  the  forfeit  of  a  similar  portion  of  the 
out-of-work  benefit  when  it  comes  due.  Any  member  engaging 
in  any  other  occupation  during  the  period  of  unemployment  is 
not  entitled  to  benefit.  Moreover,  the  large  number  of  women 
members  has  led  to  the  provision  that  "  members  doing  their 
own  domestic  work  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  benefit."  A 
member  who  voluntarily  quits  a  job  is  not  entitled  to  out-of- 
work  benefit  until  he  shall  have  again  obtained  employment  for 
at  least  one  week.  Finally,  the  constitution  of  the  International 
Union  provides  that  "  any  member  losing  his  employment 
through  intoxication,  or  courting  his  discharge  through  bad 
workmanship  or  otherwise  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  benefit 
for  eight  weeks  thereafter,  and  shall  be  so  recorded  in  his 
loan  book;  inability  to  hold  a  job  shall  not  deprive  a  member 
of  his  benefit." 

The  procedure  through  which  members  receive  the  out-of- 
work  benefit  is  carefully  guarded.  In  the  first  place,  any  mem- 
ber who  wishes  to  apply  for  this  benefit  must,  after  being 
discharged  or  laid  off,  obtain  from  the  collector  of  the  shop  a 
certificate  stating  the  cause  thereof,  and  must  present  this  to 
the  financial  secretary  of  the  local  union.  These  certificates  are 
kept  on  file  for  inspection  by  the  finance  committee  and  Inter- 
national financier.  The  applicant  is  then  allowed  to  register. 
Each  local  is  provided  by  the  International  Union  with  a  regis- 
try book,  and  in  this  the  names  of  the  unemployed  entitled 
to  out-of-work  benefit  are  written.  This  must  be  signed  every 
day,  and  if  the  member  does  not  sign  he  forfeits  his  benefit 
for  that  day,  while  if  he  fails  for  three  consecutive  days  to 
sign  the  registry  book  he  forfeits  the  benefit  of  previous  regis- 
tration and  is  not  entitled  to  any  benefit  until  after  the  pre- 
liminary week  has  again  elapsed.  Particular  hours  are  specified 
during  which  unemployed  members  must  register.  Traveling 
members  before  receiving  benefits  must  deposit  their  cards 
with  a  union  in  which  they  have  been  registered  for  six  days, 
and  jurisdiction  members  who  are  unable  to  report  at  least  every 
second  day  to  the  financial  secretary  must  report  twice  every 
week  in  writing  and  must  have  their  reports  countersigned  by 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION      539 

the  town  and  shop  collector,  producing  additional  evidence  if 
demanded  by  the  union.  "  But  in  no  case  shall  a  member  be 
entitled  to  out-of-work  benefit  if  he  remains  in  a  place  where 
no  union  shop  exists."  The  financial  secretary  of  the  local 
must  report  at  every  regular  meeting  the  names  of  members 
who  have  received  out-of-work  benefit,  together  with  the  cause 
of  loss  of  employment. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  checks  upon  fraud  are  numerous, 
and  that  the  registry  system  itself  is  exceedingly  strict.  It  has 
been  found  necessary  that  this  should  be  so.  When  the  out- 
of-work  benefit  was  originally  adopted  it  was  under  a  careful 
registry  system,  but  shortly  afterwards  this  was  changed  to  a 
card  system.  At  the  convention  in  1896  the  International 
president  reported: 

I  am  fully  persuaded  that  a  serious  mistake  was  made  when  the 
old  registry  system  for  the  out-of-work  member  was  abolished.  The 
present  or  card  system  opened  the  door  to  fraud  and  petty  abuses, 
which,  I  regret  to  say,  has  in  some  instances  been  taken  advantage  of. 
I  recommend  a  return  to  the  book-registry  system  as  being  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  successful  regulation  and  maintenance  of  one  * 
of  the  grandest  and  most  humane  features  of  our  benefit  system,  and 
the  establishment  of  such  other  safeguards  as  may  commend  them- 
selves to  your  judgment  and  wisdom. 

This  recommendation  was  adopted  by  the  convention,  and  the 
book-registry  system  was  reestablished.  Still  another  check  is 
provided  by  the  section  of  the  constitution  that  imposes  sus- 
pension and  a  fine  of  from  $5  to  $25,  as  the  union  may  deem 
proper,  upon  any  member  obtaining  benefits  or  endeavoring  to 
obtain  benefits  under  false  pretenses. 

For  the  purpose  of  obtaining  work  for  the  unemployed  every 
union  must  establish  a  labor  bureau,  while  it  is  made  the  duty 
of  the  shop  collectors  to  report  to  the  financial  secretary  of  the 
local  union  upon  the  day  of  receiving  notice  of  the  vacancy 
any  jobs  that  may  be  open  in  their  factories.  Any  shop  col- 
lector failing  so  to  report,  or  any  financial  secretary  failing 
immediately  to  refer  to  the  factory  in  question  an  unemployed 
member,  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $i.  Any  member, 


540 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


moreover,  who  knows  where  a  job  is  open  and  fails  to  report 
it  to  the  financial  secretary  is  fined  $i. 

Any  member  refusing  to  work  in  a  shop  where  work  is  offered 
him,  or  who  neglects  to  apply  for  work  in  a  shop  if  directed  by  the 
financial  secretary  or  any  officer  of  the  union,  or  shop  collector,  shall 
not  be  entitled  to  any  benefit  until  he  has  secured  employment  for  at 
least  one  week.  This  shall  apply  to  jurisdiction  towns  within  a  radius 
of  ten  miles.  Shop  collectors  shall  immediately  report  to  the  finan- 
cial secretary  the  name  (if  known)  of  any  member  refusing  to  work 
where  work  is  offered  him  ;  failing  to  so  report  he  shall  be  fined  $2 
for  each  offense. 

Two  other  constitutional  provisions  relating  to  the  benefit 
system  should  be  mentioned.  In  the  first  place,  applicants  for 
membership  in  the  union  who  are  affected  with  chronic  diseases 
or  who  are  over  fifty  years  of  age  are  not  entitled  to  any  out- 
of-work  or  sick  benefit  and  to  no  more  than  $50  death  benefit. 
They  pay  the  regular  initiation  fee,  but  only  15  cents  weekly 
dues,  while  full  beneficial  members  pay  30  cents  weekly  dues. 
The  executive  committee  of  the  local  union  is  the  judge  of  the 
class  to  which  a  new  member  is  assigned.  On  the  other  hand, 
as  has  been  already  mentioned,  any  retiring  member  who  has 
contributed  dues  for  three  years  may  continue  to  be  entitled  to 
sick  and  death  benefits  by  the  payment  of  a  certain  sum  in 
dues.  When  the  provision  was  adopted  this  sum  was  10  cents, 
but  it  has  been  raised  to  20  cents  per  week.  All  assessments 
of  the  International  Union  must  also  be  paid.  A  retiring  mem- 
ber failing  to  avail  himself  of  this  privilege  forfeits  all  previous 
rights  and  benefits. 

This  elaborate  system  of  benefits  is  supported  by  the  pay- 
ment for  each  member  of  $3  initiation  fee,  30  cents  per  week 
dues,  and  special  assessments  and  fines.  Any  member  who 
is  in  arrears  for  eight  weeks'  dues  or  assessments,  except  in 
such  cases  of  unemployment  or  sickness  as  have  been  already 
mentioned,  stands  suspended  from  benefits.  "  If  the  member 
within  two  weeks  from  such  suspension  places  himself  within 
the  eight-week  limit  and  remains  within  such  limit  for  ninety 
days  from  date  of  suspension,  he  shall  be  restored  to  his  previous 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION      541 

rights.  Failing  to  comply  with  the  above  he  shall  stand  sus- 
pended from  the  union." 

The  benefits  come  out  of  what  is  practically  the  common 
fund  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union.  They  are  paid 
directly  by  the  locals,  but  the  locals  themselves  in  all  financial 
affairs  are  carefully  regulated  by  the  constitution  of  the  Inter- 
national Union.  Each  local,  for  instance,  must  deposit  all  its 
money  above  a  certain  minimum  amount,  depending  upon  the 
membership,  in  an  appointed  bank,  or  purchase  registered  bonds 
of  the  United  States  or  Canada.  Its  expenditures,  moreover, 
are  carefully  regulated,  being  limited  not  only  to  certain  speci- 
fied objects  but  to  a  certain  percentage  of  gross  receipts.  A 
union  which  has  thirty  members  or  less  may  expend  on  its  gen- 
eral budget,  each  item  of  which  is  carefully  enumerated,  30  per 
cent  of  its  gross  income,  one  having  from  thirty  to  fifty  mem- 
bers 25  per  cent,  and  one  having  fifty  members  or  over  20  per 
cent.  This  does  not  include  benefits,  which  are  paid  according 
to  the  fixed  rules  already  described,  any  local  permitting  illegal 
expenditure  on  benefits  being  fined  $25.  If  the  funds  of  a  local 
union  become  exhausted  by  legitimate  expenditure,  the  execu- 
tive board  of  the  International  Union,  upon  receipt  of  notice 
to  that  effect,  orders  other  unions  to  forward  to  the  first  one 
whatever  sums  may  be  considered  necessary.  Furthermore, 
there  is  a  regular  system  of  equalizing  the  funds  of  local  unions 
according  to  the  annual  and  monthly  reports  of  the  International 
president,  upon  the  basis  of  the  benefits  paid  by  each.  Thus, 
if  one  local  pays  for  legal  benefits  more  than  its  pro  rata  amount, 
the  deficit  is  made  up  to  it  by  those  other  unions  which  may 
have  expended  less  than  their  pro  rata  amounts.  The  receipts 
of  the  International  office  for  its  legitimate  expenditures  are 
obtained  by  simply  drawing  upon  any  local  union  from  month 
to  month.  The  orders  for  money  are  made  by  the  International 
president  with  the  consent  of  the  executive  board  and  are 
published  in  the  Official  Journal  thirty  days  prior  to  being  sent 
to  the  local. 

As  for  the  actual  cost  of  the  benefit  system,  the  table  on  the 
following  page  shows  the  per  capita  expenditure  on  the  various 


542 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


BENEFIT  EXPENDITURES,  1891-1900  1 

Light-face  type  shows  total  expenditure  ;  black-face,  per  capita  expenditure 


Year 

Strike 

Sick 

Death 

Out-of-work 

Total 

Member- 
ship 

1891 

to53J-78 
$1.38 

$87,472.97 
$3-6l 

#38,068.35 
$1-57 

$21,223.50 
$0.88 

$180,296.60 
$7.44 

24,221 

1892 

37,477.60 
1.40 

89,906.30 
3-37 

44,701.97 
1.68 

17,460.75 
•65 

189,546.62 
7.10 

26,678 

1893 

18,228.15 

.68 

104,391.83 
3-90 

49>458.33 
1.85 

89,402.75 
3-33 

261,481.06 
9.76 

26,788 

1894 

44,966.76 
1.62 

106,758.37 
3.84 

62,158.77 
2.23 

174,517.25 
6.27 

388,401.15 
13.96 

27,828 

1895 

44,039.46 
1-59 

112,567.06 
4.06 

66,725.98 
2.40 

166,377.25 
5-99 

389»377-75 
14.04 

27,760 

1896 

27,446.46 

I.OO 

109,208.62 
4.00 

78,768.09 
2.88 

175,767.09 
6.43 

391,190.42 
14.31 

27.3J8 

I897 

12,175.09 
.46 

112,774.63 
4.28 

69,186.67 
2.62 

117,474.40 
4.46 

311,610.79 
11.82 

26,341 

1898 

25,118.59 

•95 

111,283.60 
4.21 

94»939-83 
3.58 

70,197.70 
2.65 

30I.539-72 
11-39 

26,460 

I899 

12,331.63 
•43 

107,785.07 
3-71 

98,993-83 
3.41 

38,037.00 
I-3I 

257,147.53 
8.86 

28,994 

1900 

137,823.23 
4.06 

117,455.84 
3.46 

98,291.00 
2.89 

23,897.00 
.70 

377,417.07 
ii.  ii 

33,955 

benefits  in  each  of  a  series  of  ten  years.  As  the  period  under 
consideration  includes  both  good  and  bad  times  in  about  equal 
proportion,  these  figures  show  the  approximate  cost  of  the 
entire  system  under  average  conditions.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  expenditures  per  capita  on  strike  and  out-of-work  ben- 
efits have  fluctuated  very  greatly,  but  that  the  expenditures  on 
sick  and  death  benefits  show  only  slight  variations.  It  is  also 
noticeable  that,  except  in  the  bad  years  1894,  1895,  and  1896, 
the  strike  benefit  is  small  when  the  out-of-work  benefit  is  large, 
and  vice  versa.  In  1904  the  strike  benefit  cost  79  cents  per 

1  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  May,  1904,  p.  7. 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION     543 

capita,  the  sick  benefit  $3.93,  the  death  benefit  $3.65,  and  the 
out-of-work  benefit  72  cents.  During  the  same  year  $1.41  per 
capita  was  spent  upon  the  traveling  benefit,  but  as  this  is 
generally  paid  back  it  should  not  be  counted  as  a  part  of  the 
cost  of  the  benefit  system.  With  regard  to  the  traveling  benefit 
International  President  Perkins  states  :  "  The  loans  are  repaid, 
although  the  books  show  that  we  grant  from  $2000  to  $3000 
more  loans  each  year  than  we  collect,  and  according  to  records 
there  are  now  outstanding  [April,  1905]  $88,000  in  loans.  Prob- 
ably $30,000  or  $40,000  of  this  amount  is  lost." 

The  membership  of  this  organization,  thanks  to  its  benefit 
system,  has  been  comparatively  stable.  Though  the  number  of 
members  declined  somewhat  during  the  years  1895,  1896,  and 
1897,  and  even  in  1898  was  not  as  great  as  it  had  been  in  1894, 
the  decline  was  not  nearly  as  great  as  in  many  other  unions 
during  the  same  period.  The  Operative  Plasterers'  International 
Association,  for  instance,  which  pays  only  death  benefits,  had 
90  locals  in  1891,  70  in  1892,  80  in  1893,  72  in  1894,  75  in 
1895,  63  in  1896,  62  in  1897,  and  only  38  in  1898,  rising,  how- 
ever, to  131  in  1 90 1.1  Again,  the  Bricklayers'  and  Masons' 
International  Union  declined  in  membership  from  27,448  in 
1892  to  19,674  in  1894.  This  union  has  no  national  benefit 
system.2  The  International  Wood  Carvers,  with  only  death 
benefits,  decreased  in  membership  from  1433  in  1893  to  749 
in  i897,3  and  the  Seamen's  Union  decreased  from  1750  mem- 
bers in  1891  to  350  members  in  i895.4 

Obviously  a  strong  benefit  system  has  a  decided  influence 
in  keeping  the  membership  of  a  labor  organization  intact  during 
dull  times.  International  President  Perkins  states  with  reference 
to  the  system: 

The  effect  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  members  is  remarkable,  inas- 
much as  it  lessens  the  suspensions  and  has  a  tendency  to  make  the 
organization  more  permanent.  They  usually  make  better  fighters  dur- 
ing times  of  strikes,  and,  as  they  become  imbued  with  the  spirit  that 
loss  of  membership  means  a  serious  financial  loss  both  to  themselves 

1  Industrial  Commission,  Vol.  XVII,  p.  154. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  1 1 8.          8  Ibid.,  p.  202.          4  Ibid.,  p.  256. 


544 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


and  their  families,  they  are  more  loyal.  The  so-called  insurance 
feature  in  our  organization,  paying  from  $50  to  $550  upon  the  death 
of  a  member,  has  a  strong  influence  in  the  maintenance  of  loyalty 
throughout  the  organization. 

The  union  is  especially  proud,  too,  of  its  out-of-work  benefit, 
and  the  published  statements  in  regard  to  the  amounts  expended 
on  this  benefit  are  often  used  by  labor  statisticians  as  a  barom- 
eter of  labor  conditions  throughout  the  country.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  all  this  has  been  accomplished  in  the  face  of 
unfavorable  trade  conditions  which  have  rendered  it  impossible 
to  organize  more  than  a  small  proportion  of  the  cigar  makers 
of  the  country. 

At  present  a  vigorous  agitation  is  in  progress,  carried  on 
principally  through  the  Cigar  Makers  Official  Journal,  in  favor 
of  the  establishment  of  a  superannuation  benefit.  Many  old 
and  feeble  members,  it  is  said,  are  now  paid  out-of-work  and 
sick  benefits  who  ought  to  be  receiving  superannuation  benefits. 
Moreover,  it  is  urged  that  this  benefit  would  strengthen  the 
prestige  of  the  organization.  As  early  as  1893  Samuel  Gompers, 
president  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  as  delegate  to 
the  convention  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union,  intro- 
duced an  amendment  to  the  constitution  establishing  a  super- 
annuation benefit.  His  plan  was  to  pay  to  members  of  ten 
years'  standing  a  pension  of  $5  per  month,  to  be  increased  to 
$6  after  fifteen  years'  membership,  provided  that  members 
receiving  for  five  consecutive  years  full  out-of-work  or  full  sick 
benefits  should  be  placed  on  the  list  of  members  entitled  to 
superannuation  benefit,  who  should  receive,  however,  only  $4 
per  month  until  after  the  ten  and  fifteen  years  respectively 
required  for  the  $5  and  $6  pensions.  This  proposition  was 
apparently  introduced  simply  to  bring  the  matter  before  the 
membership.  In  June,  1904,  another  incomplete  working  plan 
was  suggested  in  an  editorial  in  the  Cigar  Makers'  Official 
Journal  This  provided  for  the  payment  of  a  pension  of  $6 
monthly  to  any  member  contributing  dues  for  twenty-five  years, 
who  was  sixty  years  of  age  or  over,  and  unable  to  earn  $6 
weekly;  and  monthly  pensions  of  $7  and  $10  respectively  to 


BENEFIT  SYSTEM  OF  CIGAR  MAKERS'  UNION      545 

members  seventy  years  of  age  and  of  thirty  years'  standing  and 
to  members  eighty  years  of  age  and  of  thirty  years'  standing. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  observed  that  the  Amalgamated 
Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  an  English  organization  with 
over  70,000  members,  dating  from  1860,  pays,  on  an  average, 
something  like  a  third  less  for  its  superannuation  benefit  than 
for  its  sick  and  funeral  benefits  combined,  so  that,  if  the  sick 
and  death  benefits  of  the  Cigar  Makers  are  worth,  as  is  assumed 
in  the  provision  for  retiring  members,  about  20  cents  per  week, 
the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union,  in  which  insurance 
is  an  important  factor  in  the  death  benefit,  could  doubtless 
easily  support  a  superannuation  benefit  similar  to  that  of  the 
Amalgamated  Carpenters,  with  an  increase  of  10  cents  per 
week  in  the  dues.  The  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters 
and  Joiners  pays,  in  this  country,  from  $2.45  to  $2.80  per  week 
superannuation  benefit.  The  only  other  labor  organization  in 
the  United  States  which  is  paying  superannuation  benefit  at  the 
present  time  is  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  another 
English  organization,  though  the  Pattern  Makers'  League  of 
North  America  has  a  provision  in  its  constitution  for  the  pay- 
ment of  this  benefit  after  1920.  Thus  the  Cigar  Makers  have, 
so  far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned,  practically  a  pioneer 
field  to  explore  in  the  establishment  of  a  superannuation  benefit. 

UNIVERSE  OP  WISCONSIN.  HELEN  L'  SuMNER' 


XXV 

EMPLOYERS'   LIABILITY  AND  ACCIDENT 
INSURANCE1 

I 

An  illustration  of  the  defective  foreign-news  service  of  the 
American  press  is  afforded  by  the  almost  complete  ignorance 
that  exists  here  to-day  concerning  one  of  the  most  far-reaching 
social  movements  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Although  the 
foremost  topic  of  public  discussion  in  the  countries  of  Europe 
has  lately  been  the  problem  of  accidents  to  workingmen,  the 
cable  dispatches  published  in  our  newspapers  have  scarcely 
given  an  inkling  of  the  fact;  and  while  England,  France,  Den- 
mark, and  Italy  within  the  space  of  eight  months  (from  August  6, 
1897,  to  April  9,  1898)  all  enacted  comprehensive  laws,  based 
on  entirely  new  principles,  for  the  protection  and  indemnifica- 
tion of  wage-earners  exposed  to  industrial  risks,  the  only  echo 
of  this  almost  revolutionary  movement  that  reached  the  read- 
ers of  American  journals  was  the  report  that  the  Swiss  people 
had  made  use  of  the  referendum  to  defeat  a  proposed  law  for 
compulsory  sickness-and-accident  insurance  !  The  explanation  of 
such  apparent  prejudice  or  indifference  on  the  part  of  foreign 

1  From  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  XVII,  1902,  pp.  256-283.  The 
principal  authority  followed  in  this  paper  is  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of 
the  New  York  State  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  (1899),  Part  II  of  which  is  devoted 
to  the  subject  of  "The  Compensation  of  Accidental  Injuries  to  Workmen."  As 
this  document  is  fully  indexed,  the  present  writer  deems  it  unnecessary  to  make 
specific  references.  The  report  also  contains  bibliographies  of  the  best  sources, 
to  which  may  be  added  the  following  recent  articles : 

"  Accidents  to  Labor,"  by  W.  F.  Willoughby,  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Labor,  January,  1901. 

"The  British  Workmen's  Compensation  Act,"  by  A.  M.  Low,  ibid. 

"  Present  Status  of  Employers'  Liability  in  the  United  States,"  by  S.  D.  Fes- 
senden,  ibid.,  November,  1900. 

546 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  547 

correspondents  may  be  left  to  others  with  a  better  knowledge 
of  the  cause ;  the  present  writer  is  concerned  rather  with  the 
contrast  between  European  and  American  principles  of  legisla- 
tion in  this  important  field. 

To  begin  with,  it  may  be  stated  as  emphatically  as  possible 
that  European  interest  in  the  problem  has'  not  been  due  to  any 
greater  frequency  of  industrial  accidents  abroad  than  in  the 
United  States.  On  the  contrary,  as  might  be  inferred  by  any 
one  who  stops  to  think  of  the  incomparable  energy,  restlessness, 
and  fearlessness  of  American  workingmen,  of  the  relatively  high 
intensity  of  work  in  American  shops  and  factories,  and  of  the 
vastly  greater  use  that  our  people  make  of  machinery,  more 
workmen,  relatively,  are  injured  here  than  abroad.  Statistical 
demonstration  of  this  might  be  extended  to  an  indefinite  length; 
but  it  will  be  entirely  sufficient  to  cite  the  fact  that  the  Amer- 
ican railways,  as  compared  with  the  British,  have  twice  the 
number  of  employees  and  every  year  kill  four  times  as  many  of 
them,  the  annual  ratio  of  accidental  deaths  to  total  employees 
of  all  classes  being  I  to  420  in  the  United  States  as  compared 
with  i  to  950  in  Great  Britain.  And  if  in  Germany,  with  its 
50,000,000  people,  8000  wage-earners  are  killed  and  more 
than  400,000  injured  every  year,  we  are  fairly  safe  in  assuming 
that  in  the  United  States,  with  its  75,000,000  people,  the  army 
of  employees  annually  killed  or  injured  is  50  per  cent  greater. 
The  problem  of  industrial  accidents,  then,  exists  as  surely  in  the 
western  hemisphere  as  in  the  older  continent. 

Two  possible  reasons  may  be  advanced  for  the  'fact  that  the 
problem  has  attracted  little  attention  here  outside  of  purely 
academic  circles,  while  in  Europe  it  has  agitated  popular  forums 
and  extorted  consideration  from  statesmen.  The  contrast  prob- 
ably rests,  first,  upon  differences  in  the  economic  situation  of 
workingmen  on  the  two  continents,  and,  secondly,  upon  differ- 
ences of  legal  philosophy.  European  workmen,  with  their 
cramped  position,  their  slender  resources,  and  the  burden  of 
militarism,  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  an  adequate  reward  for 
their  toil,  and  hence  are  likely  to  be  financially  crushed  by  com- 
paratively slight  misfortunes  and  thereby  thrown  upon  the  public 


548        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

charities  for  maintenance.  American  workingmen,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  earned  and  received  high  wages  and  have  thus 
enjoyed  what  their  European  confreres  would  call  financial  inde- 
pendence ;  their  savings  or  their  insurance  in  fraternal  orders 
have  enabled  them  to  withstand  the  effects  of  all  but  the  most 
serious  physical  injuries  without  becoming  a  burden  upon  the 
public.  Such  relative  financial  independence,  however,  is  becom- 
ing far  less  general  in  the  United  States,  and  it  is  in  recognition 
of  this  fact  that  many  of  the  larger  railroad  systems  have  estab- 
lished relief  funds  or  pension  departments  through  which  the 
employer  makes  some  contribution  to  the  alleviation  of  distress 
among  his  injured  employees.  In  the  great  stock  yards,  sugar 
refineries,  iron  and  steel  works,  and  other  industrial  plants  of 
American  cities  the  foreign-born  laborers  earn  so  little  money 
above  their  minimum  requirements  that  a  severe  injury  is  almost 
sure  to  make  them  dependent  upon  public  or  private  charity. 
The  natural  and  logical  remedy  would  be  a  law  requiring  all 
employers  to  act  toward  their  injured  workmen  as  liberal  em- 
ployers already  act,  —  to  pay  the  necessary  medical  expenses 
and  a  moiety  of  the  wage  of  the  victim  during  the  period  of 
disablement  from  work. 

That  such  a  law  has  nowhere  been  enacted  in  America 
may  be  in  part  ascribed  to  the  prevalent  individualistic  philos- 
ophy, which,  refusing  to  look  at  the  social  effects,  decrees  that 
the  wage-earner,  in  accordance  with  tradition,  must  carry  the 
ordinary  risks  of  his  occupation.  It  is  assumed  that  before 
accepting  employment  the  workman  will  calculate  the  relative 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  his  prospective  occupation, 
including  the  probable  danger  to  life  and  limb ;  and  that 
his  remuneration  is  thereupon  so  adjusted  that  his  wages 
will  include  compensation  for  possible  injury.1  This  legal 

1  See  the  opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Shaw  of  Massachusetts  in  the  leading  case  of 
Farwell  v.  Boston  and  Worcester,  4  Met.  49 :  "  The  general  rule  resulting  from 
considerations  as  well  of  justice  as  of  policy  is  that  he  who  engages  in  the  employ- 
ment of  another  for  the  performance  of  specified  duties  and  services  for  compen- 
sation takes  upon  himself  the  natural  and  ordinary  risks  and  perils  incident  to 
the  performance  of  such  services,  and,  in  a  legal  presumption,  the  compensation  is 
adjusted  accordingly." 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  549 

fiction,1  however,  has  no  basis  in  fact ;  railroad  trainmen,  for 
instance,  obtain  no  more  than  the  wages  of  ordinary  laborers, 
although  one  out  of  every  eleven  of  them  is  seriously  injured 
every  year.  Sailors,  miners,  quarrymen,  and  other  workmen  in 
extrahazardous  trades  are  paid  no  more  than  laborers  in  other 
occupations,  excepting  where  the  matter  of  skill  enters  into  the 
question.  To  suppose  that  these  wage-earners  ever  seriously 
consider  the  matter  at  all  is  to  impute  to  them  a  measure  of 
foresight  and  of  economic  strength  in  the  wage  bargain  that  is 
found  only  in  the  skilled  artisan  class,  the  "  aristocracy  of  labor." 

Nevertheless,  the  two  reasons  above  recited  (the  relative  eco- 
nomic independence  of  American  wage-earners  and  the  prevalent 
individualistic  philosophy)  explain  why  in  this  country  all  prac- 
tical efforts  thus  far  made  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  industrial 
accidents  have  been  limited  to  proposals  for  altering  the  law  of 
negligence  so  far  as  it  concerns  the  relation  of  employer  and 
employee.  Premising  that  the  employees  assume  the  ordinary 
risks  of  their  occupations,  the  law  holds  the  employer  responsible 
for  accidents  due  to  his  own  negligence  precisely  as  it  holds  any 
person  liable  to  pay  damages  for  such  neglect  of  his  duties  as 
results  in  injury  to  other  persons.  But  in  one  essential  respect 
the  common  law  of  England  and  America  has  discriminated 
against  the  servant  or  employee  :  it  has  refused  to  maintain  the 
doctrine  of  principal  and  agent  in  the  case  of  accidents  caused 
by  negligence  when  the  person  injured  is  an  employee  of  the 
person  by  whom  or  upon  whose  behalf  the  act  of  negligence 
was  committed. 

To  illustrate  :  if  a  grocer's  delivery  wagon  runs  down  a  pedes- 
trian, who  himself  is  not  at  fault,  the  pedestrian  has  the  right 
of  action  for  damages  not  merely  against  the  driver  but  also 
against  the  principal,  the  grocer,  who  may  in  fact  have  given 
the  most  precise  instructions  to  his  driver  about  exercising  vigi- 
lance and  respect  for  the  rights  of  pedestrians.  This  ancient 

1  It  has  been  so  characterized  by  Judge  Earl  of  the  New  York  Court  of 
Appeals:  "To  enforce  the  supposed  public  policy  a  fiction  has  been  invented  by 
which  the  servant  is  said  to  assume  all  the  risks  of  the  service  in  which  he 
engages."  —  Crispin  v.  Babbitt,  81  N.  Y.  529. 


550         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  firmly  established  principle  of  respondeat  superior,  whereby 
the  principal  must  answer  for  negligent  acts  of  his  agent,  rests 
purely  upon  the  expediency  of  giving  the  victim  a  legal  claim 
upon  some  party  who  is  pecuniarily  responsible,  —  in  other  words, 
some  one  who  can  pay  damages.  It  is,  apparently,  a  universal 
principle  of  law,  and  its  justification,  aside  from  the  motive  of 
expediency  just  indicated,  rests  upon  the  idea  that,  if  a  man  finds 
it  convenient  or  profitable  to  delegate  any  part  of  his  work  to 
others,  he  must  still  be  ready  to  furnish  satisfaction  for  injuries 
growing  out  of  such  work ;  if  he  fears  to  risk  his  property  by 
thus  giving  bonds  for  the  conduct  of  his  agents,  he  has  the 
alternative  of  doing  his  own  work  alone.  Now  the  injustice  of 
the  American  law  of  negligence,  as  applied  to  employees,  lies  in 
the  fact  that  our  courts  have  created  an  exception  to  the  uni- 
versal principle  expressed  in  the  maxim  respondeat  superior  by 
refusing  to  hold  the  principal  responsible  for  the  negligence  of 
an  agent  when  the  person  injured  is  a  fellow-employee.  To  recur 
to  the  illustration  :  if  the  supposed  pedestrian  run  down  by  a 
careless  driver  of  a  grocer's  wagon  happened  to  be  a  clerk  in 
the  employ  of  the  same  grocer,  he  could  not  obtain  damages 
from  the  principal. 

Crudely  illustrated,  this  is  the  famous  "fellow-servant  doc- 
trine" which  has  naturally  evoked  antagonism  on  the  part  of 
American  workingmen.  It  is  a  doctrine  that  is  not  tolerated  in 
continental  courts,  and  it  was  largely  abolished  by  statute  in  Eng- 
land more  than  twenty  years  ago.  It  has  also  been  considerably 
modified  either  by  legislation  or  by  judicial  decisions  in  most 
American  commonwealths.1  But  workingmen  look  upon  it  as  a 
burden  even  in  its  modified  form,  and  to  it  is  apparently  due 
most  of  their  present  discontent.  Will  they  be  satisfied  with  its 
entire  abolition  ?  Is  an  employer's  liability  law,  perfected  on  these 
lines,  really  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  accidents  to  labor  ?  That 

1  In  recent  years  the  courts  have  stretched  the  doctrine  of  "  vice  principal "  so 
as  to  cover  many  coemployees  of  an  injured  workman.  That  is  to  say,  if  the 
agent  whose  negligence  brought  about  the  injury  to  a  coemployee  was  performing 
any  of  the  duties  properly  belonging  to  the  employer,  he  is  regarded  not  as  a 
"  fellow-servant "  but  as  a  "  vice  principal,"  or  alter  ego,  of  the  employer,  who  thus 
becomes  liable  for  damages. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  551 

question  may  most  properly  be  answered  by  reviewing  the  expe- 
rience of  other  countries. 

II 

In  Germany,  as  in  England  and  the  United  States,  the  prob- 
lem of  industrial  accidents  did  not  assume  prominence  unjil  the 
advent  of  railways  ;  but  in  the  German  states  the  legislature  did 
not  step  aside  and  leave  the  courts  to  develop  a  law  of  employers' 
liability.  On  the  contrary,  railway  construction  had  scarcely  begun 
in  Germany  when  in  1838  the  Prussian  legislature  enacted  a  law 
which  provided  that  every  railway  company  should  be  liable  for 
personal  injuries  to  employees  (as  well  as  to  passengers),  unless 
it  could  prove  in  court  that  the  accident  was  occasioned  by  the 
negligence  of  the  victim  or  by  an  act  of  Providence ;  and  still 
further  to  strengthen  the  employee's  case,  the  law  specifically 
provided  that  the  risks  inherent  in  the  railroad  business  should 
not  be  considered  as  rendering  accidents  inevitable,  and  hence 
should  not  exempt  the  corporation  from  responsibility.  This 
Prussian  law  of  1838  thus  goes  far  beyond  the  demands  of 
American  workingmen  at  the  present  time,  at  least  so  far  as 
respects  railways,  which  are  in  truth  the  subject  of  most  of  the 
agitation  ;  for  it  transfers  the  burden  of  proof  from  the  shoulders 
of  the  injured  employee  to  those  of  the  corporation.  It  distinctly 
directs  that  the  employer,  and  not  the  employee,  is  to  assume 
the  ordinary  risks  of  the  industry. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  German  Empire  in  1871  this 
Prussian  act  of  1838  was  embodied  in  a  general-liability  law  for 
the  Empire,  which  also  defined,  though  in  less  stringent  terms,  the 
liability  of  proprietors  of  factories,  mines,  quarries,  and  so  forth. 
The  enormous  industrial  expansion  of  Germany,  following  its 
consolidation  under  a  strong  government,  rapidly  transformed 
the  small  shops  of  handicraftsmen  into  great  factories,  in  which 
the  employer's  responsibility  for  his  workingmen  was  dissipated 
among  numerous  superintendents,  foremen,  and  others  who 
assumed  certain  of  his  functions  of  control.  The  conditions  of 
labor  in  factories  and  mines  began  to  approximate  those  on  the 
railways,  and  the  earlier  reform  movements  sought  to  extend  the 


552 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 


provisions  of  the  railway-liability  law  to  the  manufacturing  indus- 
try and  other  employments.  But  far-sighted  economists — Schaffle, 
Wagner,  Schmoller,  and  others  —  deemed  such  a  reform  entirely 
inadequate,  holding  that,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  locating 
the  negligence,  the  law  of  negligence  could  by  no  possibility  be 
sufficiently  perfected  to  secure  for  injured  workmen  proper  com- 
pensation. This  difficulty  was  set  forth  in  the  preamble  of  the 
accident-insurance  bill  of  1881. 

To  burden  the  person  injured  with  the  requirement  of  furnishing 
proof  of  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  employer  or  his  agents  trans- 
forms the  beneficence  of  the  law  for  the  workingman  into  an  illusion 
in  the  majority  of  cases.  The  procurement  of  such  evidence,  suffi- 
ciently difficult  in  any  event,  is  not  seldom  rendered  impossible  as 
respects  some  of  the  most  severe  injuries  brought  about  by  natural 
forces,  as  happens  in  mines,  establishments  with  steam  boilers,  and 
factories  for  the  manufacture  of  explosives.  Herein  the  condition  of 
the  workplace  —  the  implements  and  appliances,  upon  which  the  whole 
case  of  the  workman  really  turns  —  is  so  altered  by  the  accident  itself 
as  to  be  unrecognizable ;  while  those  persons  through  whose  testimony 
alone  negligence  in  many  cases  can  be  proven  have  been  killed  or 
injured  by  the  accident.  The  injured,  even  if  not,  as  is  generally  the 
case,  parties  to  the  suit,  are  left  in  such  condition  by  the  catastrophe 
as  to  be  unable  to  give  formal  testimony. 

Without  entering  further  into  the  legislative  history  of  the 
question,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  state  that  the  economists,  aided 
by  Emperor  William  I  and  Bismarck,  finally  triumphed  in  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  1884,  which  made  employers  responsible 
for  all  accidents  to  employees  in  the  course  of  their  occupation 
except  such  as  should  be  occasioned  by  the  willful  misconduct  of 
the  victims  themselves.  This  minor  exception  is  virtually  all  that 
is  left  in  Germany  of  the  law  of  negligence  so  far  as  it  concerns 
employees.1 

To  comprehend  fully  the  methods  of  the  German  law  for 
indemnifying  workmen  injured  at  their  work,  one  must  consider 
an  analogous  law  enacted  two  years  earlier  (1882),  namely,  the 

1  Of  course,  employers  may  still  be  sued  for  negligence ;  but  such  actions  are 
brought  only  when  the  negligence  is  so  gross  as  to  promise  a  considerably  larger 
compensation  than  that  afforded  by  the  accident-insurance  law. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY 


553 


sickness-insurance  law.  This  act  requires  the  establishment  of 
sick  funds  in  all  industries,  one  third  of  the  contributions  to  come 
from  employers  and  two  thirds  from  the  working  people.  Any 
employee  injured  while  at  work  is  cared  for  by  the  sick  funds 
for  the  first  three  months  after  the  accident ;  but  if  at  the  end  of 
these  thirteen  weeks  he  is  still  incapacitated,  he  is  entitled  to  an 
allowance  equal  to  two  thirds  of  his  wages,  besides  the  medical 
expenses,  out  of  a  fund  maintained  by  the  employers.  If  he  dies 
at  any  time  as  a  result  of  his  injuries,  his  family  is  entitled  to  a 
yearly  pension  not  exceeding  60  per  cent  of  his  wages. 

In  order  to  guard  the  employee  against  the  possible  loss  of 
his  compensation  or  allowance  through  the  bankruptcy  or  failure 
of  his  employer,  the  law  provides  for  the  collective  responsibility 
of  employers  ;  that  is,  all  employers  are  grouped  together  into 
associations  by  industries  (Bentfsgenossenschafteri),  and  each  asso- 
ciation pays  the  claims  of  workingmen  employed  by  its  own  mem- 
bers. The  members  of  each  association  are  annually  assessed, 
according  to  the  size  of  their  pay  rolls  and  the  hazard  of  their 
business,  at  a  rate  sufficient  to  pay  the  death  claims,  the  benefits 
to  temporarily  disabled  workmen,  and  the  pensions  to  entirely 
incapacitated  workmen  and  the  families  of  employees  killed  by 
accident.  The  assessments  must  also  cover  the  administrative 
expenses  of  the  association,  which  include  the  salaries  of  a  large 
number  of  engineering  and  mechanical  experts  employed  by  the 
associations  to  inspect  the  factories  of  members  and  see  that  the 
best  appliances  are  bought  and  used  for  safeguarding  dangerous 
machinery.  Briefly  put,  the  German  law  requires  every  employer 
to  join  a  mutual  insurance  company,  which  indemnifies  his  employ- 
ees for  all  personal  injuries  sustained  in  the  course  of  their  employ- 
ment, the  question  of  negligence  on  one  side  or  the  other  having 
nothing  to  do  with  the  amount  of  such  indemnification,1  which  is 
fixed  by  the  amount  of  the  employee's  wages  and,  in  case  of  his 
death,  the  number  of  surviving  dependents.  The  administrative 

1  With  the  qualification  that  no  compensation  is  paid  when  the  injury  is  due 
to  the  victim's  willful  misconduct  —  which  in  practice  has  proved  unimportant  — 
and  that  the  victim  may  sue  for  damages  when  the  employer  has  been  grossly 
negligent. 


554 


TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


machinery  for  determining  the  compensation  is  prescribed  by  the 
law,  but,  on  account  of  limitations  of  space,  cannot  be  described 
here.1 

For  eighteen  years  now  this  compulsory  accident-insurance 
system  has  been  on  trial  in  Germany,  and  its  success  can  no 
longer  be  seriously  questioned.  It  has  been  successively  ex- 
tended by  the  lawmaking  authorities,  and  when  in  1900  it  was 
thoroughly  overhauled  and  revised  the  changes  were  wholly 
in  the  direction  of  enlarging  its  scope.  The  broad  result  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  following  facts  :  About  20,000,000  persons,  or 
nearly  two  fifths  of  the  entire  population  and  ten  elevenths  of 
that  part  engaged  in  gainful  occupations,  are  protected  by  the 
insurance  system,  and  any  one  of  these  persons,  in  case  of  a  dis- 
abling accident,  may  claim  a  living  allowance  as  a  right  and  not 
as  a  charity;  each  year  about  100,000  accidental  injuries  are 
indemnified,  of  which  one  half  are  cases  of  temporary  disable- 
ment (exceeding,  however,  a  duration  of  three  months)  and  one 
half  cases  of  permanent  disablement  or  death  ;  about  $20,000,000 
are  annually  expended  through  this  system,  of  which  80  or  85  per 
cent  is  actually  paid  to  the  sufferers,  about  2  per  cent  being 
expended  for  the  prevention  of  accidents,  and  the  remainder 
representing  the  expenses  of  management.  The  actual  burden 
of  this  insurance  upon  German  industry  cannot  be  determined, 
for  the  reason  that  permanently  injured  employees  are  not  in- 
demnified with  a  lump  sum  of  money,  but  are  pensioned  with 
an  annual  or  quarterly  allowance  for  life.  Nevertheless,  the 
annual  expenditures,  which  are  almost  identical  with  the  assessed 
contributions  of  employers,  have  lately  averaged  only  $1.22  per 
$100  of  the  annual  wage  roll,  and  this  is  a  lower  rate  than  any 
prevailing  from  1892  to  1897.  Of  course,  the  rate  varies  enor- 
mously from  industry  to  industry  according  to  the  relative  risks 
of  accident ;  it  is  about  twenty-four  times  as  great  in  mining 
as  in  the  tobacco  industry,  which  is  the  least  hazardous  of  the 
manufactures.2 

1  See  Chapter  XXVI,  p.  574. 

2  In  1897  the  amount  actually  paid  in  the  indemnification  of  injuries  was  $1.78 
per  $100  of  wages  in  mining,  and  only  8  cents  in  the  tobacco  industry. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY 


III 


555 


The  other  countries  of  Europe  had  been  as  much  concerned 
as  Germany  with  the  question  of  reforming  the  law  of  liability, 
but  they  postponed  action  in  order  to  await  the  result  of  the 
German  experiment.  Only  Austria,  which  is  for  the  most  part 
a  German  country,  accepted  at  once  the  new  principle  of  incor- 
porating in  the  cost  of  production  of  manufactured  goods,  by  the 
side  of  the  allowance  for  wear  and  tear  of  machinery,  an  item  for 
the  wear  and  tear  of  human  operatives.  But  the  Austrian  law  of 
1887,  though  it  insures  compensation  for  all  injuries,  regardless 
of  the  question  of  negligence,  differs  in  many  respects  from 
the  German  law.  It  permits  employers,  for  example,  to  deduct 
10  per  cent  of  their  assessments  from  the  wages  of  employees, 
and  it  requires  the  capitalized  value  of  each  pension  to  be  paid  at 
the  time  of  the  accident.1  Again,  the  collective  responsibility  of 
employers  is  secured,  not  as  in  Germany  through  associations 
for  different  industries,  only  the  railroads  having  a  trade  associa- 
tion, but  through  seven  provincial  or  district  associations.  Fur- 
thermore, the  government  itself  does  not  undertake  the  business 
of  insurance,  although  it  establishes  the  rates.  Additional  varia- 
tions from  the  German  law  can  also  be  found  in  the  scale  of 
compensation,  but  these  need  not  be  entered  into  at  this  point. 

The  other  Teutonic  nations  of  northern  Europe  could  not  but 
be  influenced  by  the  long  discussion  of  employers'  liability  and 
accident  insurance  in  Germany  and  the  final  adoption  of  the  latter 
principle.  Within  a  few  months  after  the  enactment  of  the  Ger- 
man law  of  1884  parliamentary  commissions  were  at  work  in 
Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Finland,  gathering  statistics  of 
accidents,  of  the  methods  for  alleviating  distress  in  the  families 
of  the  stricken  workmen,  and  so  forth.  The  Norwegian  commis- 
sion completed  its  labors  and  presented  draft  bills  in  1890,  and 

1  It  appears  that  the  actuaries  put  the  rate  of  the  contributions  somewhat  too 
low  when  they  calculated  that  the  average  assessment  would  have  to  be  $1.40  per 
$100  of  the  annual  pay  roll;  whereas,  for  the  seven  years  1890-1896  the  net 
charges  amounted  to  $1.55  per  $100  of  wages.  The  premium  required  in  certain 
dangerous  industries  also  proved  too  low,  and  the  next  revision  of  the  schedule  of 
rates  will  result  in  many  increases  and  but  few  reductions. 


556         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

in  1894  the  legislature  fully  accepted  the  principle  of  compulsory 
compensation  for  all  accidents  and  enacted  an  accident-insurance 
law.  This  law  more  closely  resembles  the  Austrian  than  the 
German  act.  Compensation  begins  four  weeks  after  the  acci- 
dent and  is  fixed  at  60  per  cent  of  the  victim's  wages;  in  the 
event  of  his  death  the  pension  to  his  family  is  not  to  exceed  50 
per  cent  of  his  average  annual  income.  In  Norway  as  in  Ger- 
many the  expenses  of  indemnification  of  injuries  are  to  be  paid 
by  the  employers  without  deduction  from  wages  ;  but  in  Norway 
the  state  guarantees  the  indemnities  and  collects  the  assessments 
from  employers  through  a  state  insurance  office,  the  expenses  of 
which  are  a  state  charge. 

In  1895  Finland  enacted  a  workmen's  compensation  law  of 
less  comprehensive  scope.  While  it  provides  a  scale  of  compen- 
sation and  requires  employers  to  insure  their  employees  against 
accident  through  authorized  companies  or  by  depositing  securities 
with  the  government,  it  does  not  grant  compensation  to  employees 
injured  through  the  fault  of  fellow-workmen  or  vis  major.  In 
other  words,  it  does  not  cover  the  unavoidable  mishaps  which 
constitute  the  bulk  of  all  industrial  accidents. 

The  Danish  parliamentary  commission  made  its  report  in  1888, 
but,  owing  to  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  a  system 
of  obligatory  insurance,  the  legislature  did  not  agree  upon  a  law 
until  I89/.1  The  action  of  Great  Britain  seemed  to  have  a  decisive 
influence  in  crystallizing  sentiment  in  Denmark,  as  in  the  other 
continental  states.  On  account  of  the  far-reaching  influence  of 
English  policy,  it  is  advisable  to  consider  somewhat  carefully  the 
steps  by  which  the  British  Parliament  at  last  definitely  abandoned 
employers'  liability  based  upon  the  law  of  negligence  and  accepted 
the  principle  of  compensation  for  all  accidents. 

IV 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  judge-made  law  of  employers' 
liability,  embracing  the  indefensible  doctrine  of  common 
employment,  had  operated  in  England  and  the  United  States  to 

1  Sweden,  the  remaining  Scandinavian  country,  did  not  enact  an  accident- 
insurance  law  until  1901. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  557 

the  great  injury  of  the  English  and  American  workmen.  And 
the  fact  that  the  "fellow-servant  doctrine  "  was  upheld  so  much 
more  rigorously  by  the  English  courts,  dominated  by  the  capi- 
talistic House  of  Lords  (the  final  court  of  appeal),  as  well  as  the 
fact  of  the  greater  relative  importance  of  machine  production, 
inspired  in  England  a  movement  for  legislative  definition  of  the 
law  of  liability  and  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  Employers'  Lia- 
bility Act  of  1880,  which  has  served  as  a  model  for  several 
American  statutes.  While  this  act  removed  some  of  the  more 
unjust  defenses  utilized  by  employers  to  avoid  the  penalties  of 
their  negligence,  it  failed  to  give  general  satisfaction.  Amend- 
ments were  offered  at  nearly  every  session  of  Parliament  and 
several  commissions  were  appointed  to  examine  into  the  ques- 
tion. Finally,  in  1893,  the  Gladstone  government  accepted  the 
views  of  the  workingmen  and  introduced  an  employer's  liability 
bill  that  was  calculated  to  destroy  the  doctrine  of  common 
employment  root  and  branch.  This  bill  passed  the  House  of 
Commons,  but  came  back  from  the  House  of  Lords  with  un- 
acceptable amendments  concerning  the  power  of  employers  to 
contract  themselves  out  of  their  liability  by  special  agreements 
with  their  employees.  The  consequent  defeat  of  the  bill  ended 
the  prospect  of  legislation  under  the  Liberals. 

But  the  situation  so  urgently  demanded  reform  that  the 
Conservatives,  upon  their  accession  to  power  in  1895,  could 
not  decline  to  act,  especially  in  view  of  their  obligations  to  the 
Liberal-Unionist  wing,  which  through  its  leader,  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain, had  promulgated  a  really  liberal  labor  programme,  includ- 
ing reform  of  the  liability  law.1  The  government  bill,  intro- 
duced at  the  session  of  1896-1897,  went  far  beyond  any  of  the 
proposals  of  the  Liberal  government  by  offering  compensation 
for  all  accidental  injuries,  quite  irrespective  of  the  negligence 
of  this  person  or  that. 

The  debates  upon  this  bill  fill  several  hundred  very  interesting 
pages  in  Hansard.  The  average  member  of  Parliament,  who 
was  likely  to  be  an  employer,  could  not  at  first  understand  why 

1  See  Mr.  Chamberlain's  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  November,  1892. 


558         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

he  should  pay  indemnification  for  injuries  for  which  he  was  not 
to  blame.  But  the  history  of  employers'  liability  throughout 
the  era  of  machine  production  had  demonstrated  the  impos- 
sibility of  locating  the  blame,  since,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
great  bulk  of  industrial  accidents  are  virtually  unavoidable. 
Any  person  can  see  that  the  operator  of  a  buzz  saw  is  exposed 
to  greater  risks  than  a  cigar  maker,  and  no  amount  of  care  on 
the  part  of  the  employer  or  the  operator  will  serve  to  equalize 
the  risks.  For  the  vast  majority  of  accidents,  therefore,  the 
liability  of  an  employer  under  the  law  of  negligence  affords 
no  remedy  to  the  victim.  Striking  evidence  of  this  fact  was 
adduced  in  the  testimony  taken  by  the  Royal  Commission  on 
Labor  in  1894,  when  one  of  the  great  accident-insurance  com- 
panies testified  that  in  26,087  cases  of  accidental  injury  which 
it  had  indemnified  under  collective  accident-insurance  policies 
carried  by  employers,  not  more  than  3026,  or  12  per  cent, 
would  have  been  entitled  to  compensation  under  the  law  of 
negligence. 

Now  assuming  that  a  liability  law  based  on  negligence  would 
compel  employers  to  pay  compensation  for  that  12  per  cent 
of  their  injuries  to  their  employees,  it  could  be  easily  demon- 
strated that  the  uncertainties,  the  expense,  and  above  all 
the  bitterness  of  class  feeling  incident  to  such  legal  conflicts, 
would  frequently  outweigh  the  advantages  of  the  law.  Such 
a  law  must  of  necessity  be  full  of  uncertainties,  because  it 
attempts  to  define  the  duties  of  employer  and  those  of  em- 
ployee, —  duties  which  are  constantly  shifted  with  the  progress 
of  invention  and  the  adoption  of  improvements.  One  week  a 
court  may  have  held  that  it  was  not  the  employer's  duty  to 
provide  certain  safeguards  for  a  machine  because  such  pro- 
visions had  not  become  a  part  of  the  usual  customs  and  prac- 
tices of  the  business  ;  another  week  the  same  court  might 
decide  that  such  guards  were  necessary  and  reasonable.  In 
one  case,  where  scaffolding  has  given  way  and  a  workman  has 
been  seriously  injured,  it  is  decided  that  the  foreman,  acting 
for  the  employer,  should  have  inspected  the  defective  scaffold- 
ing; in  the  next  case  it  may  be  held  that  the  obligation  of 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  559 

inspecting  the  scaffolding  rested  upon  the  employee  himself. 
Numerous  cases  of  fatal  accidents  also  occur  in  which  the 
evidence  of  negligence  is  destroyed  and  the  workingman's 
family  are  thus  deprived  of  their  rightful  indemnification,  even 
though  the  law  itself  may  be  clear ;  such  cases  are  of  frequent 
occurrence  among  colliery  explosions,  where  the  witnesses 
perish  along  with  all  evidences  of  possible  negligence. 

If  the  uncertainty  and  expensiveness  of  legal  actions  for 
damages  were  not  sufficient  to  deter  an  injured  employee  from 
proceeding  against  his  employer,  he  would  be  deterred  by  the 
apprehension  of  losing  employment.  The  official  memorandum 
of  the  British  Home  Office  summed  up  the  defects  of  the  em- 
ployers' liability  law  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  workingman  in 
the  following  single  paragraph. 

The  truth  is  that  to  the  workman  litigation  under  the  act  has  more 
than  its  usual  terrors.  It  is  not  merely  that  litigation  is  expensive 
and  that  he  is  a  poor  man  and  his  employer  comparatively  a  rich 
one,  —  it  is  that  when  a  workman  goes  to  law  with  his  employer  he,  as 
it  were,  declares  war  against  the  person  on  whom  his  future  probably 
depends ;  he  seeks  to  compel  him  by  legal  force  to  pay  money,  and 
his  only  mode  of  doing  so  is  the  odious  one  of  proving  that  his 
employer  or  his  agents  —  his  own  fellow-workmen  —  have  been  guilty 
of  negligence.  Add  to  this  that  the  legal  proof  of  such  negligence  is 
often  extremely  difficult.  The  broad  result  is  that  a  legal  claim  for 
damages  only  answers  where  the  injury  is  very  great  and  the  work- 
man is  prepared  to  leave  his  master's  service.1 

If  uncertainty  and  expensiveness  made  the  law  unsatisfactory 
to  the  workman,  they  did  not  make  it  satisfactory  to  the  em- 
ployer. Liability  to  pay  damages  for  negligence  did  not  lead 
to  any  correspondence  between  the  penalty  and  the  degree  of 
culpability.  The  most  criminal  negligence  might  result  in  a 
trifling  injury,  compensated  at  the  expense  of  a  week's  wages, 
while  some  trifling  oversight  in  the  selection  of  materials  might 
lead  to  loss  of  life  and  heavy  damage  suits.  Employers  kept 

1  Appendix  to  the  minutes  of  evidence  taken  before  the  Royal  Commission  of 
Labor,  1894,  c  7063-111  A,  p.  351. 


560        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

in  their  service  an  army  of  lawyers  whose  remuneration  would 
have  afforded  compensation  to  hundreds  of  injured  employees. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  a  fairly  disposed  employer  found  him- 
self prosecuted  by  professional  "damage"  lawyers,  or  "shy- 
sters," who  stepped  in  to  prevent  any  peaceable  arrangement 
between  him  and  an  injured  workman.  Mr.  Chamberlain,  for 
example,  related  the  experience  of  a  friend  who  told  him  that 
"  in  two  cases  which  he  was  absolutely  bound  to  fight  and 
both  of  which  he  won,  the  costs  amounted  to  more  than  any 
compensation  ever  given  under  the  Employers'  Liability  Act."  l 
That  act  —  which,  be  it  remembered,  is  substantially  the  law  in 
America  to-day  —  was  characterized  by  Mr.  Asquith,  the  Liberal 
leader,  as  "  an  elaborate  series  of .  traps  and  pitfalls  for  the 
unwary  litigant,  and  productive  of  litigation  which,  in  propor- 
tion to  its  difficulty  and  cost,  is  absolutely  barren  of  result."2 

It  was  probably  the  cold,  hard  fact  of  the  expensiveness  of 
futile  litigation  under  the  liability  law  that  appealed  more 
than  any  other  argument  to  the  conservative  British  capitalists 
and  merchants  who  compose  the  House  of  Commons  and  in- 
duced them  to  adopt  the  new  principle  of  compensation  for  all 
accidents. 

Aside  from  the  experience  of  foreign  countries,  never  deci- 
sive to  an  Englishman,  the  'country  already  had  some  evidence 
of  its  own  as  to  the  probable  workings  of  the  new  system. 
After  the  passage  of  the  liability  act  of  1880  there  had  grown 
up  in  England  great  insurance  companies  which  made  a 
business  of  relieving  employers  of  suits  for  damages  brought 
on  behalf  of  injured  employees,  the  premiums  for  such  insur- 
ance being  a  certain  percentage  of  the  annual  pay  roll. 
These  companies,  moreover,  did  a  real  accident-insurance  busi- 
ness on  a  similar  basis,  issuing  to  employers  for  a  somewhat 
higher  premium  a  workman's  collective-insurance  policy.  The 
statistics  furnished  by  one  of  the  largest  of  these  insurance 
companies  afforded  the  instructive  comparison  shown  in  the 
following  table. 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  XLVIII  (1897),  1465. 

2  Ibid.,  XLIX,  753. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY 


561 


Liability 
Insurance 

Workmen's 
Collective 
Insurance 

1,188 

2608? 

QC2 

O7 

Claims  litigated    •  . 

327! 

4 

No  claims  made         •          ...               .... 

7,7  CQ 

IO,2I7 

26  1  88 

It  thus  appeared  that  of  10,217  injured  employees  only  1327, 
or  13  per  cent,  could  obtain  compensation  under  the  employers' 
liability  law,  while  under  the  accident-insurance  policy  all 
but  an  infinitesimal  number  were  compensated.  The  contrast 
pointed  the  way  to  a  new  system  of  legislation  whereby  the 
compensation  of  accidents  should  be  a  mere  business  arrange- 
ment rather  than  a  matter  of  law.  The  British  Workmen's 
Compensation  Act  of  1897,  like  the  German  act  of  1884,  the 
Austrian  act  of  1887,  and  the  Norwegian  act  of  1894,  virtually 
makes  the  employer  the  insurer  of  his  workmen  against  all 
accidents.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  it  says  to  every 
employer  in  the  industries  covered  by  the  a'ctT: 

When  you  enter  upon  a  business  you  must  consider  this  compen- 
sation is  as  much  a  trade  charge  as  is  now  the  provision  which  you 
are  called  upon  to  make  for  the  repair  of  machinery.  You  at  present 
have  to  put  aside  every  year  a  certain  sum  for  the  repair  of  the  inert 
machinery,  which  is  a  factor  in  your  business.  Now  the  human 
element  in  the  business  has  to  be  considered,  and  in  the  case  of 
accident  what  reparation  you  can  make  must  be  made  as  a  charge 
upon  the  business. 

The  scale  of  compensation  fixed  by  the  law  assures  to  a 
totally  disabled  workman  a  weekly  benefit  equal  to  one  half  his 
average  wages  ;  to  the  family  of  a  workman  mortally  injured,  a 
lump  sum  equal  to  three  years'  wages  (but  not  less  than  $730 
or  more  than  $1460).  The  disability  allowance  begins  with  the 
third  week  of  disablement. 

In  passing  it  should  be  noted  that  the  act  of  1897,  while 
affording  these  new  compensations  to  an  injured  workman, 

1  Of  these  136  were  won  and  191  lost  by  workmen. 


562         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

does  not  abolish  his  old  rights  of  action  against  a  negligent 
employer.  On  the  contrary,  he  may  sue  his  employer  for  neg- 
ligence under  the  common  law  or  under  the  liability  act  of 
1880,  and  if  defeated  may  still  claim  as  a  matter  of  right,  not 
to  be  disputed,  the  compensation  allowed  him  under  the  new 
act.  Provided  the  workman  is  disabled  from  earning  full  wages 
for  a  period  of  at  least  two  weeks,  the  only  defense  the  em- 
ployer can  offer  is  that  the  accideiit  did  not  "  arise  out  of  and 
in  course  of  the  employment,"  or  that  it  was  attributable  to 
the  serious  and  willful  misconduct  of  the  workman  himself. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the  vir- 
tues and  defects  of  the  English  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  of 
1897.  Certain  things  about  it,  however,  are  clearly  established: 

1.  The  principle  of  compensation  for  all  accidents  has  been 
permanently  accepted  in  England  ;  the  only  amendment  made 
to  the  act  has  been  one  to  widen  its  scope  by  extending  it  to 
agriculture.   The  occupations  not  as  yet  embraced  in  the  law  are 
domestic  service,  service  in  small  workshops  where  no  mechani- 
cal power  is  used,  the  building  of  structures  less  than  thirty 
feet  high,  mercantile  pursuits,  trucking,  and  navigation.    It  will 
be  seen  that  the  only  industrial  classes  still  outside  the  law  that 
are  exposed  to  heavy  risks  are  seamen  and  fishermen. 

2.  Litigation,  even  in  the  beginning  when  the  law  required 
interpretation,  has  been  insignificant.    In  the  first  six  months 
of   its  operation  not  a  single  litigated   case  was  recorded  in 
some  of  the  principal  mining  districts,  which,  with  a  population 
of  1,500,000,  had  innumerable  accidents.    Probably  the  experi- 
ence of  the  Bolton  and  District  Operative  Cotton  Spinners'  Pro- 
vincial Association  is  indicative  of  the  operation  of  the  law. 
Its  report  for  1901  shows  that  since  the  act  came  into  opera- 
tion the  claims  of  640  injured  members  had  been  paid,  of  which 
only  12,  or  less  than  2  per  cent,  were  the  subject  of  litigation. 
Unofficial  returns  in  other  industries  show  similar  results  and 
indicate  that  the  proportion  of  claims  settled  without  litigation 
is  over  98  per  cent. 

3.  The  cost  of  indemnification  has  been  comparatively  low 
in    spite    of    the    high    premiums    demanded    by    insurance 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  563 

companies.  In  South  Roxburghshire,  where  the  insurance  com- 
panies asked  from  22\  to  37^  cents  per  $100  of  the  annual 
pay  roll,  mutual  insurance  associations  were  formed  by  the 
employers  and  indemnities  paid  on  the  basis  of  a  premium  of 
only  \2\  cents  per  $100  of  \vages.1  As  yet  the  burden  of  the 
act,  if  indeed  it  has  been  a  burden,  has  not  made  itself  felt  in 
the  competition  with  foreign  countries,  most  of  which,  indeed, 
have  similar  acts. 


The  action  of  England  in  accepting  the  principle  of  compen- 
sation for  all  accidents  seemed  to  bring  to  a  head  the  discussion 
that  had  been  going  on  in  other  countries  for  a  decade  or  more. 
In  the  four  years  that  have  since  elapsed  no  fewer  than  nine 
states  have  enacted  similar  laws,  including  France,  Italy,  Spain, 
Holland,  and  Sweden,  as  well  as  two  of  the  Australasian  colo- 
nies. The  Danish  act  of  January  7,  1898,  has  already  been 
mentioned ;  like  the  English  act,  it  makes  insurance  voluntary 
on  the  part  of  employers,  but  gives  the  injured^ employee  a  prior 
claim  on  insurance  due  to  the  employer  in  case  of  accident.  The 
accident  benefit,  which  does  not  begin  until  the  fourteenth  week, 
is  fixed  at  60  per  cent  of  the  victim's  wages,  and  the  indemnity 
in  case  of  his  death  is  equivalent  to  four  years'  wages. 

Italy  followed  with  the  act  of  March  17,  1898,  which  made 
insurance  obligatory,  indeed,  but  left  employers  the  option  of 
insuring  in  authorized  companies  or  in  mutual  associations  or 
by  the  deposit  of  securities  with  the  government.  The  dis- 
ability allowance  begins  on  the  sixth  day  after  the  accident, 
and  is  equal  to  50  per  cent  of  the  victim's  usual  wages.  In 
case  of  permanent  disablement  or  death  the  indemnity  is  a 
lump  sum  equal  to  five  years'  wages. 

About  the  same  time  France  was  enacting  a  workman's 
compensation  law.  The  question  had  been  before  the  legisla- 
ture at  every  session  for  years,  but  the  Senate  and  Chamber 
of  Deputies  had  not  previously  succeeded  in  agreeing  upon  a 

1  See  M.  Barlow,  "  The  Insurance  of  Industrial  Risks,"  Economic  Journal, 
Vol.  XI  (September,  1901),  p.  348. 


564         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

•bill.  Now  the  influence  of  the  English  act,  combined  with 
the  exigencies  of  local  politics  and  the  approach  of  elections, 
resulted  in  the  act  of  April  9,  1898.  Under  this  law  the  acci- 
dent allowance  begins  on  the  fifth  day  after  the  accident,  and 
for  temporary  disablement  is  fixed  at  one  half  the  victim's 
average  wages,  while  for  permanent  incapacity  it  is  two  thirds 
of  his  wages.  In  event  of  his  death  pensions  to  surviving 
members  of  his  family  are  not  to  exceed,  in  the  aggregate, 
60  per  cent  of  his  annual  wage. 

The  treatment  of  the  insurance  problem  in  this  act  is  pecul- 
iar to  France,  and  is  the  result  of  a  compromise  between  the 
Senate  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  Instead  of  compelling 
employers  to  carry  insurance  for  the  protection  of  their  em- 
ployees or  against  the  possibility  of  their  own  bankruptcy  or 
failure,  the  French  government  guarantees  the  payment  of 
accident  benefits  and  indemnities.  For  this  purpose  a  special 
guarantee  fund  is  to  be  accumulated  by  means  of  a  small  addi- 
tion to  the  regular  business  tax  in  the  case  of  concerns  sub- 
ject to  the  law.  This  novel  experiment  will  be  watched  with 
interest  in  other  countries.  While  it  might  easily  lead  to  a 
state  insurance  office,  France  has  been  noted  for  the  strong 
development  of  employers'  mutual  associations,  and  it  is  gener- 
ally hoped  that  these  may  continue  to  gather  strength  under 
the  new  regime. 

No  new  compensation  acts  were  recorded  in  1899,  but  on 
January  30,  1900,  Spain  joined  the  other  industrial  countries 
with  such  legislation.  The  Spanish  act  is  rather  limited  in 
scope,  as  it  does  not  require  the  compensation  of  inevitable 
accidents  (those  caused  by  vis  major),  and  in  that  particular 
more  closely  resembles  employers'  liability  laws.  But  it  pro- 
vides a  definite  scale  of  compensation,  the  temporary  allow- 
ance to  an  injured  employee  being  one  half  his  usual  wages 
and  the  indemnity  for  permanent  disability  being  a  lump  sum 
equal  to  two  years'  earnings.  In  the  case  of  fatal  accidents  the 
indemnity  to  the  victim's  family  is  likewise  two  years'  earnings, 
or,  at  the  option  of  the  employer,  a  pension  equal  to  not  more 
than  40  per  cent  of  the  workman's  income. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  565 

The  New  Zealand  act  of  October  18,  1900,  and  the  South 
Australian  act  of  December  5,  1900,  are  modeled  so  closely 
after  the  English  act  as  to  call  for  no  special  consideration. 

The  accident-insurance  law  enacted  by  Holland,  January  2, 
1901,  grants  to  the  workmen  perhaps  the  most  liberal  terms 
of  any  of  these  acts.  The  allowance,  which  begins  on  the  day 
following  the  injury,  is  to  be  70  per  cent  of  the  victim's  regu- 
lar wage,  and  that  is  also  the  ratio  in  case  of  permanent  (and 
total)  disability.  In  case  of  death  the  pension  to  his  family  is 
to  be  60  per  cent  of  his  earnings.  Insurance  in  authorized 
private  companies  or  the  government  insurance  office  is  obliga- 
tory unless  the  employer  prefers  to  deposit  securities  with  the 
government  for  the  payment  of  compensation  to  his  injured 
employees.  One  peculiar  feature  of  the  Dutch  act  is  the  dis- 
crimination against  drunkenness  ;  the  law  provides  that,  if  the 
accident  is  due  to  intoxication,  the  victim  shall  receive  only 
one  half  the  usual  allowance,  and  his  heirs  or  dependents  none.1 

On  February  21,  1901,  the  Kingdom  of  Greece  adopted  a 
workmen's  compensation  act  for  mines,  smelting  works,  and  cer- 
tain quarries,  which  is  peculiar  in  that  one  half  of  the  indemni- 
ties due  to  permanent  disabilities  and  fatalities  are  to  be  paid 
by  the  Miners'  Provident  Fund,  which  is  administered  by  the 
government.  But  as  the  fund  is  maintained  by  the  taxation 
of  mines,  and  so  forth,  the  burden  really  falls  upon  the  industry 
after  all.  The  allowance  for  disablement  is  50  per  cent  of  the 
usual  wage. 

The  Swedish  act  of  April  24,  1901,  is  not  so  liberal  as  the 
earlier  Norwegian  act,  and  the  scale  of  compensation  differs 
from  all  others  in  that  it  fixes  an  invariable  sum  as  the  disability 
allowance  or  benefit  instead  of  a  percentage  of  the  wage  earned 
by  each  victim;  nor  does  it  require  indemnification  of  injuries 
occasioned  by  the  willful  misconduct  of  third  persons,  providing 
they  do  not  exercise  authority.  By  opening  the  door  to  dis- 
putes respecting  the  negligence  of  certain  persons  and  the 
responsibilities  of  others  the  act  thus  embodies  the  usual  defect 

1  The  Dutch  law  is  summarized  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor, 
May,  1901,  pp.  190-193. 


566         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  employers'  liability  laws,  namely,  it  does  not  avoid  enormous 
expenses  for  litigation. 

Switzerland  is  still  debating  schemes  of  accident  insurance, 
having  accepted  the  principle  more  than  ten  years  ago  in  the 
form  of  a  constitutional  amendment.  After  long  preparation 
the  federal  legislature  in  1899  passed  a  compulsory  sickness- 
and-accident  insurance  law  which  was  to  go  into  force  Janu- 
ary i,  1903  ;  but  on  the  referendum  vote  in  1900  the  law  was 
rejected  by  a  majority  of  two  to  one.  It  seems  probable  that 
new  projects  will  be  less  comprehensive  in  scope.  In  the  mean- 
time the  Swiss  have  a  very  liberal  employers'  liability  law, 
enacted  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  which,  like  the  Prussian 
law  of  1838,  places  the  burden  of  proof  upon  the  employer  and 
makes  him  liable  for  all  injuries,  unless  he  can  prove  in  court 
that  the  accident  was  caused  by  the  act  of  God  or  the  negli- 
gence of  the  victim. 

Russia  has  a  similar  law  applying  to  railways  and  steamships, 
and  is  therefore  in  a  more  advanced  position  than  the  United 
States. 

Belgium  is  the  only  other  industrial  nation  of  Europe  that 
has  not  accepted  the  principle  of  risque  professionnel.  While  a 
very  successful  organization  of  mine  owners  in  Belgium  has  fur- 
nished at  its  own  expense  accident  aid  to  injured  miners  since 
1840,  interest  is  by  no  means  wanting  in  a  national  accident- 
insurance  system.  The  ministry  itself  prepared  and  introduced 
a  bill  in  1898,  after  the  adoption  of  workingmen's  compensation 
acts  in  England,  France,  and  Italy ;  but  the  bill  was  referred 
to  a  commission,  and  before  it  was  reported  the  legislature  was 
dissolved  and  a  general  election  held  (1900).  Belgium  having 
already  enacted  an  old-age  pension  law,  it  can  safely  be  premised 
that  the  problem  of  industrial  accidents  will  not  long  await  a 
solution. 

VI 

The  preceding  review  of  European  experience  with  the  prob- 
lem of  industrial  accidents  ought  to  throw  some  light  upon  the 
probable  course  of  legislation  in  the  United  States.  Even  should 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  567 

the  agitation  by  our  workingmen  for  the  statutory  abrogation 
of  the  obnoxious  fellow-servant  doctrine  prove  entirely  success- 
ful, it  will  bring  us  only  to  the  first  stage  in  the  evolution  of 
negligence  law  into  accident  insurance,  —  the  stage  reached  by 
England  twenty  years  ago,  after  the  enactment  of  the  Em- 
ployers' Liability  Act  of  1880.  This  act,  indeed,  constituted  an 
improvement  upon  preexisting  conditions  ;  but  as  a  final  solu- 
tion of  a  large  problem  it  was  a  flat  failure,  or,  as  Mr.  Asquith 
termed  it,  "a  scandal  and  a  reproach  to  the  legislature."  We 
have  already  sketched  its  breakdown  and  noted  that  its  fatal 
defect  consisted  in  requiring  an  enormous  outlay  on  the  impos- 
sible task  of  locating  the  blame  for  the  accidents  of  modern 
industry.  The  futile  litigation  which,  on  account  of  its  expen- 
siveness,  finally  convinced  Parliament  of  the  failure  of  negligence 
law  as  a  remedy  for  the  injuries  of  employees  is  characteristic  of 
the  United  States  at  the  present  time.  And  what  is  the  logical 
result  ?  The  courts,  in  order  to  discourage  suits  and  thus  restrict 
the  volume  of  litigation,  have  betrayed  a  tendency  to  throw  out 
cases  on  technical  grounds  or  to  treat  lightly  the  responsibility 
of  the  employer.  The  authors  of  one  of  the  leading  American 
text-books  on  the  law  of  negligence  plainly  declare  that 

it  has  become  quite  common  for  judges  to  state  as  the  ground  of 
decisions  the  necessity  of  restricting  litigation.  Reduced  to  plain 
English,  this  means  the  necessity  of  compelling  the  great  majority  of 
men  and  women  to  submit  to  injustice,  in  order  to  relieve  judges  from 
the  labor  of  awarding  justice.  .  .  .  The  law  of  master  and  servant 
in  its  relation  to  the  law  of  negligence  affords  perhaps  the  most 
striking  example  in  the  last  half  century  of  gross  injustice  done  by 
this  disposition  to  restrict  responsibility  and  suppress  litigation.1 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  any  person  at  all  familiar  with 
the  operations  of  the  British  act  of  1880  can  look  for  any  decided 
improvement  in  American  conditions  through  amendments  to 
the  law  of  negligence.2  When  in  1893  the  Liberal  party  in 

1  Shearman  and  Redfield  on  Negligence  (1898),  pp.  iii,  vi. 

2  It  is  doubtful  if  the  American  statutes  modeled  upon  the  British  act  of  1880 
have  brought  about  any  perceptible  improvement  over  the  common  law.    This 
much,  at  least,  is  true,  —  the  liability-insurance  companies  charge  employers  no 


568         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

England  sought  to  improve  the  act  of  1880  without  abandoning 
the  foundation  principle  of  negligence,  the  attempt  was  defeated 
partly  because  the  bill  came  to  be  known,  not  as  an  Employers' 
Liability  Bill,  but  as  a  "  Lawyer's  Employment  Bill."  This 
satirical  appellation  is  really  descriptive  of  all  legislation  on 
the  present  subject  that  aims  to  rest  the  responsibility  of  em- 
ployers on  the  ground  of  negligence. 

The  term  may  be  said  to  apply  also  to  a  more  advanced  type 
of  liability  law,  which,  though  it  has  not  as  yet  been  proposed 
in  the  United  States,  was  adopted  in  some  European  countries 
in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  namely,  the  legis- 
lation under  which  the  burden  of  proof  of  negligence  was 
shifted  from  the  workman  to  the  employer.  As  long  ago  as 
1838  the  Prussian  law  required  a  railroad  company  to  pay  dam- 
ages to  injured  employees  unless  it  could  go  into  court  and 
there  produce  legal  evidence  that  the  accident  was  caused  by 
vis  major  or  by  the  negligence  of  the  injured  workmen.  This 
is  still  the  law  in  Switzerland  for  all  mechanical  industries,  and 
in  Russia  and  Hungary  for  transportation  companies.  But  none 
of  these  countries  has  been  satisfied  with  such  a  law,  and  all  of 
them  have  either  abandoned  it  already  or  are  preparing  so  to  do. 

The  third  stage  in  the  evolution  of  accident  legislation  is 
reached  when  a  community  has  once  grasped  the  principle  of 
risque  professional,  —  the  principle,  namely,  that  every  trade 
and  occupation  has  its  own  risks  or  dangers,  and  that,  as  the' 
bulk  of  the  accidents  therein  are  unavoidable,  they  should  be' 
paid  for  out  of  the  profits  of  that  trade  and  not  saddled  upon' 
the  families  of  individual  workmen.    The  demonstration  of  the" 
truth  of  this  principle  waited  upon  the  collection  of  compre- 
hensive statistics ;    but  since   the   establishment   of  accident- 
insurance  systems  in  several  countries  such  statistics  abound. 
It  will  be  worth  our  while  just  to  glance  at  some  of  the  best 
of  them,  shown  in  the  following  table. 

heavier  premiums  in  Massachusetts,  which  since  1887  has  had  a  "  model  "  liability 
laj\v,  than  in  the  other  New  England  states,  which  have  enacted  no  such  laws. 
The  inference  is  that  disabled  Massachusetts  workmen  get  no  more  compensation 
than  their  comrades  protected  only  by  the  common-law  rules. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY 


569 


ACCIDENTS  IN  AUSTRIA,  1890-1894 


Number 

Percentage 

Fault  of  victim 

Fault  of  employer  • 

Fault  of  third  perse 
Unforeseen  conting 
U  nknown 

Imprudence  and  gross  negligence    .     . 
Disobedience  of  rules  or  neglect  to  use 
safeguards               • 

io,937 

1^63 

7 
413 
218 

53 
762 

33.976 
47i 

22.60 

3-23 
.01 
.85 

•45 
.11 

i-57 
70.20 

•97 

^Villful  misconduct    •          .               • 

Defective  plant      

Omission  of  safeguards  

Gross  carelessness 

Total                         

48,400 

99-99 

These  statistics  extend  through  five  years  and  embrace  nearly 
50,000  accidents  to  employees.  It  appears  that  fully  70  per  cent 
of  the  accidents  were  declared  to  be  unavoidable  by  the  gov- 
ernment officials  who  investigated  them,  and  whose  judgment, 
since  the  indemnities  had  to  be  paid  without  reference  to  the 
cause  of  the  casualty,  may  be  regarded  as  wholly  unbiased. 

It  must  be  clear,  upon  reflection,  that  the  conditions  under 
which  modern  industry  is  carried  on  preclude  the  possibility 
of  explaining  every  accident  by  somebody's  negligence.  This 
much  was  dimly  understood  when  various  countries  took  the 
first  step  of  shifting  the  onus  probandi  from  employee  to 
employer.  If,  now,  the  employees  are  not  to  blame  for  the 
innumerable  injuries  to  which  they  are  subject,  why  should 
they  be  made  to  bear  the  financial  burden  of  those  injuries? 
Why  should  not  that  burden  be  distributed  over  the  com- 
munity instead  of1;  being  concentrated  upon  a  certain  number 
of  families  who,  in 'any  event,  will  have  to  bear  the  physical 
and  mental  suffering  involved  in  the  death,  crippling,  or  maim- 
ing of  men  ?  The  risk  of  fire  is  undeniably  greater  in  a  gun- 
powder mill  than  in  a  brewery,  but  the  owner  of  the  mill 
does  not  bear  the  burden  by  contenting  himself  with  lower 
profits  than  the  brewer's  ;  he  simply  pays  for  the  greater  risk 
by  higher  rates  of  fire  insurance  and  passes  the  cost  on  to  the 
consuming  public  in  a  higher  price  for  his  product.  If  the 


570        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

additional  expense  imposed  upon  a  gunpowder  manufacturer 
through  the  more  frequent  losses  by  fire  can  be  thus  recouped 
from  consumers,  why  should  not  the  expense  of  indemnifying 
his  workmen  for  accidents  be  likewise  made  a  part  of  the  cost 
of  production,  and  thereby  be  transferred  to  the  community 
at  large  ?  Only  one  thing  will  prevent  such  shifting  of  the 
burden,  and  that  is  the  ability  of  competitors  to  put  their 
goods  on  the  market  without  incurring  like  charges.  Hence 
the  law  must  require  all  competitors  in  a  given  trade  to  make 
the  same  compensation  for  the  same  injuries.  This  is  what 
Europe  has  done ;  by  compelling  employers  to  compensate 
injured  employees  according  to  a  fixed  scale,  it  has  taxed  the 
community,  through  higher  prices  of  goods,  for  the  support  of 
its  injured  members. 

Many  minds  bred  in  the  philosophy  of  individualism  will  un- 
doubtedly see  in  such  legislation  nothing  but  injustice  to  the 
employer.  In  reality  such  legislation  is  in  strict  conform- 
ance  with  the  innermost  spirit  of  English  and  American  com- 
mon law.  It  recognizes  the  existence  of  undeserved  distress 
among  workingmen  and  undertakes  to  alleviate  their  suffering 
by  giving  them  a  claim  upon  some  person  who  is  pecuniarily 
responsible.  And  that  is  precisely  the  principle  embodied  in 
the  time-honored  common-law  rule  that  the  principal  is  liable 
for  the  acts  of  his  agent. 

The  course  of  reasoning  thus  followed  to  justify  the  principal- 
and-agent  theory  of  liability  also  justifies  the  workmen's  com- 
pensation acts  adopted  by  all  the  leading  countries  of  Europe, 
which  require  the  employer  to  assume  all  the  risks  of  the 
employment  which  he  calls  into  being.  But  while  the  employer 
makes  the  primary  payment,  just  as  he  pays  for  the  wear  and 
tear  of  his  machinery  or  the  loss  of  his  plant  by  fire,  the  con- 
sumers ultimately  pay  the  cost.  The  alternative  to  such  a 
general  distribution  of  the  financial  burdens  of  industrial  acci- 
dents is  the  present  method,  by  which  the  entire  burden  is  put 
primarily  upon  the  poorest  classes,  and  when  it  crushes  them, 
to  the  damage  of  the  community,  is  at  last  tardily  assumed  by 
the  latter  throtigh  the  public  charities. 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  571 

While  the  principal  European  nations  have  reached  the  third 
stage  of  accident  legislation,  many  of  them  have  advanced  to  a 
fourth  stage.  In  England,  Denmark,  and  Spain  the  legislature 
was  content  to  prescribe  the  compensation  which  an  employer 
should  pay  for  the  injury  of  an  employee.  It  did  not  furnish 
to  the  injured  employee  any  security  for  such  payment  further 
than  the  usual  liens  upon  the  employer's  property  or  upon  any 
insurance  money  due  him.  The  omission  might  prove  a  serious 
one  upon  occasion  ;  for  example,  when  a  great  colliery  explosion 
kills  scores  of  workmen  the  resulting  indemnities  would  almost 
inevitably  bankrupt  the  employer  unless  he  had  taken  out  an 
accident-insurance  policy  upon  his  mine.  In  order  to  guarantee 
the  payment  of  these  indemnities  the  countries  outside  of  the 
three  mentioned  above  have  resorted  to  compulsory  insurance. 
Germany,  the  pioneer  in  the  whole  movement,  adopted,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  simple  expedient  of  the  collective  responsibility 
of  employers  organized  by  industries.  Austria  employs  the 
same  system,  except  that  the  employers'  mutual  associations 
are  organized  by  districts  or  provinces  rather  than  by  indus- 
tries. In  Italy  and  Finland  employers  may  transfer  their  liabili- 
ties to  such  mutual  associations  ;  otherwise  they  must  carry 
accident  insurance  in  the  state  insurance  office  or  authorized 
companies,  or  deposit  securities  with  the  proper  state  officers. 
Holland  allows  only  the  three  latter  alternatives,  while  Norway 
has  gone  still  farther  and  made  its  state  insurance  institution 
the  sole  means  of  collecting  premiums  from  employers  and 
paying  indemnities  to  workmen.  France,  finally,  is  trying  the 
original  method  of  giving  injured  working  people  a  government 
guarantee  of  their  pensions  through  the  proceeds  of  a  special 
tax  upon  the  establishments  subject  to  the  law. 

Should  the  United  States,  or  any  of  our  states,  enact  a 
workmen's  compensation  law,  one  would  expect  the  example 
of  England  rather  than  the  Continent  to  be  followed,  at  least 
until  the  impracticability  of  leaving  the  matter  of  insurance  to 
the  initiative  of  the  employer  has  been  fully  demonstrated. 
And  while  the  genius  of  America  favors  voluntary  rather  than 
compulsory  insurance,  the  private  institutions  to  furnish  such 


572         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

insurance  are  already  developing.  Should  Congress  enact  a 
law  requiring  interstate  carriers  to  compensate  employees  for 
all  injuries  in  their  employment,  it  would  find  many  of  the 
largest  systems  already  provided  with  insurance  institutions 
in  the  form  of  relief  funds,  which,  under  government  supervi- 
sion, would  serve  their  purpose  admirably.  On  the  other  hand, 
should  the  individual  commonwealths  enact  such  compensation 
laws  for  all  mechanical  industries,  they  would  find  already  in 
existence  a  large  business  in  liability  and  accident  insurance, 
which  is  being  transacted  by  private  companies.  These  com- 
panies are  now  issuing  to  employers  workmen's  collective 
policies  that  promise  the  payment  of  stated  sums  for  certain 
definite  injuries;  for  example,  in  the  event  of  death  or  the 
loss  of  two  eyes  or  limbs,  a  sum  equal  to  one  year's  wages, 
not  exceeding  $1500;  for  the  loss  of  one  limb,  a  sum  equal  to 
one  third  the  above.  Such  blanket  policies  would  be  issued 
by  many  companies,  if  public  statutes  required  the  compensa- 
tion of  accidents  upon  an  established  scale ;  and  as  insurance 
companies  are  already  subject  to  public  supervision,  it  would 
involve  the  introduction  of  no  new  principle  to  require  their 
accident-insurance  policies  to  conform  to  certain  standards  that 
might  be  embodied  in  a  workmen's  compensation  act. 

ALBANY,  NEW  YORK.  A°NA   R   WEBER' 

The  fate  of  the  first  American  attempt  to  establish  cooper- 
ative accident  insurance  in  place  of  employers'  liability  illustrates 
the  difficulties  that  will  attend  the  realization  in  this  country  of 
the  principle  of  trade  risk  as  it  has  been  accepted  throughout 
Europe.  In  1902  the  Maryland  legislature  enacted  two  laws 
(chapters  139  and  412)  which  abolished  the  doctrines  of  com- 
mon employment  and  contributory  negligence  with  respect  to 
workmen  engaged  in  mining  and  transportation.  But  the  acts 
permitted  the  employers  to  secure  exemption  from  this  addi- 
tional liability  by  paying  over  to  the  state  insurance  commis- 
sioner an  annual  sum  proportioned  to  the  number  of  employees 
and  the  hazards  of  their  trade,  thus  creating  a  fund  for  the 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  573 

indemnification  of  the  families  of  workmen  so  unfortunate  as 
to  be  killed  while  at  their  work.  Employees  might  be  called 
upon  for  one  half  the  contributions  made  by  each  employer. 
The  measure  was  certainly  well-intentioned  in  spite  of  its 
crudeness,  and  under  its  provisions  seven  quarrying  -companies 
and  two  street-railway  companies  deposited  with  the  insurance 
commissioner  sums  amounting  to  $5314,  which  was  substan- 
tially all  expended  in  the  payment  of  five  death  claims  at  the 
statutory  rate  of  $1000  for  each  employee.  On  July  3,  1903, 
however,  an  employee  of  the  United  Railways  and  Electric 
Company  of  Baltimore  sued  the  company  for  damages  on 
account  of  personal  injury  sustained  through  the  alleged  negli- 
gence of  the  company.  The  company  pleaded  that  it  had 
obtained  exemption  from  liability  for  negligence  by  contrib- 
uting to  the  insurance  fund  under  the  operation  of  the  new 
laws,  but  the  court  of  common  pleas  of  Baltimore  city  held 
(April  27,  1904)  that  the  legislature  had  no  authority  to 
exempt  an  employer  from  legal  liabilities  and  thus  "take  away 
from  citizens  a  legal  right  which  they  had  theretofore  enjoyed 
and  which  could  be  enforced  by  them  in  the  courts ;  nor  to 
deny  to  them  the  right  to  have  their  cases  heard  before  a  jury." 
The  act  was  also  unconstitutional  in  that  it  vested  "  in  the 
insurance  commissioner  powers  and  functions  essentially  judicial 
in  their  character." 

It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  however,  that  a  workmen's  compen- 
sation act  could  be  framed  that  would  be  entirely  in  harmony 
with  the  requirements  of  American  constitutional  law,  and  it  is 
particularly  worthy  of  note  that  the  Massachusetts  Committee 
on  Relations  between  Employer  and  Employee,  on  which  there 
were  representatives  of  both  employers  and  employees,  unani- 
mously recommended  a  workmen's  compensation  law  quite 
similar  to  the  English  act,  which  has  operated  with  so  much 
general  satisfaction  that  in  1901  it  was  extended  to  agriculture. 

A  F  W 

AUGUST  25,  1905. 


XXVI 
WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY1 

Twenty  years  have  now  passed  since  the  first  law  on  com- 
pulsory workmen's  insurance  in  Germany  went  into  operation. 
It  represented  the  first  step  towards  the  realization  of  that 
broad  scheme  whose  outlines  were  put  forth  by  the  emperor 
William  I  in  his  well-known  "  Message  "  (Botschaff)  of  Novem- 
ber 17,  1881,  the  "  Magna  Charta  of  German  Social  Policy," 
as  it  is  called  by  some,  not  altogether  unreservedly,  for  of  sub- 
sequent legislative  measures  following  in  its  steps  none  has 
overstepped  the  limits  which  it  describes.  Such  deliberate  and 
direct  evolution  adds  much  to  the  interest  connected  with  the 
problem  itself;  it  considerably  simplifies  the  investigation  of 
the  question  as  to  what  has  been  the  success  of  the  scheme  in 
its  contact  with  life's  reality,  and  how  far  the  wish  of  the  law- 
giver was  realized  "  that  the  cure  of  social  evils  be  sought  for 
not  exclusively  in  the  repression  of  social-democratic  excesses, 
but  also  in  the  active  furthering  of  the  workmen's  well-being."  2 

.  .  .  Those  who  visited  the  Palais  de  1' Economic  Sociale  at  the 
Universal  Paris  Exhibition  of  1900  were  certainly  very  much 
impressed  by  the  obelisk  representing  the  mass  of  gold  equiva- 
lent to  the  insurance  benefits  that  were  paid  out  in  Germany  to 
workmen  between  the  years  1885  and  1899.  Such  an  obelisk 
would  have  weighed  961,000  kilograms,  and  would  have  had 
a  nominal  value  of  2,400,000,000  marks  (about  $600,000,000), 
a  truly  imposing  figure,  which  exceeded  all  expectations ;  the 
labels  with  the  inscriptions  "  Grand  Prix,"  that  were  displayed 

1  From  the  Yale  Re-view,  Vol.  XII,  1904,  pp.  716-730.    See  also  Farnam,  "  Psy- 
chology of  German  Workmen's  Insurance,"  Yale  Review,  Vol.  XIII,  pp.  98-113. 

2  Dass  die  Heilung  sozialer  Schaden  nicht  ausschliesslich  auf  dem  Wege  der 
Repression  sozialdemokratischer  Ausschreitungen,  sondern  gleichmassig  auf  dem 
der  positiven  Forderung  des  Wohles  der  Arbeiter  zu  suchen  sein  werde. 

574 


WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY  575 

everywhere  on  the  walls  of  this  particular  pavilion,  bore  witness 
to  the  full  expert  appreciation. 

A  few  figures  will  give  a  more  comprehensive  idea  of  this 
gigantic  organization.  In  1900  there  were  23,021  sick-benefit 
clubs  (Krankenkassen1) ;  the  number  of  insured  was  9,520,763, 
-that  is,  423  insured  in  each  club  (409.4  in  1899).  Accident 
business  was  done  by  1 1 3  professional  associations  (Berufsgenos- 
senschafteri)  (48  of  these  rural),  478  governmental,  provincial, 
and  communal  executive  authorities  (Attsfuhrungsbehorderi),  and 
13  insurance  offices  of  builders'  associations  (Versicherungsan- 
stalten  der  Baugewerksberufsgenossenschafteri):  No  exact  data 
can  be  obtained  as  to  the  activity  of  these  latter.2  Accord- 
ingly, any  correct  estimate  as  to  the  number  of  persons  insured 
would  be  possible  only  with  reference  to  associations  and  to 
executive  authorities.  By  the  former  18,073,174  persons  were 
insured  in  1901;  by  the  latter,  793,565.  However,  the  first 
figure  is  excessive,  as  persons  occupied  simultaneously  in  indus- 
try and  in  agriculture  are  insured  and  quoted  twice;  in  1895 
they  numbered  about  i,6oo,ooo.3  Bringing  in  these  correc- 
tions, we  should  not  be  wrong  in  assuming  the  number  of  those 
insured  against  accident  to  be  1 8,000,000. 

Invalid  and  old-age  insurance  is  done  by  thirty-one  insurance 
institutions  ( Versicherungsanstalteri)  and  by  nine  special  estab- 
lishments (besondere  Kasseneinrichtungeii).  The  number  of 
those  compulsorily  insured  was  11,813,259  in  1895,  but  now, 
especially  after  the  reforms  of  1899,  it  should  be  considerably 
larger;  this  fact  among  others  is  shown  by  the  returns  from 
the  sale  of  invalid  insurance  stamps,  which  show  an  increase 
from  93,000,000  marks  in  1891  to  134,000,000  in  1901.  As 
regards  those  insured  for  invalidity  and  old  age  not  on  the 
compulsory  basis,  an  attempt  towards  an  exact  estimation  of 
their  number  would  meet  almost  insuperable  difficulties. 

1  The  difficulty  of  rendering  similar    expressions   into  English    rests  in  the 
different  formation  of  these  organizations  in  Germany,  on  the  one  hand,  and  in 
America  and  England,  on  the  other. 

2  See  Amtliche  Nachrichten  d.  R.  V.  A.,  1902,  p.  114. 

3  See  Amtliche  Nachrichten,  1902,  p.  5,  and  ibid.,  1903,  p.  5. 


576        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

From  1885  to  1897,  2,908,200,000  marks  have  been  collected 
for  workmen's  insurance.  The  individual  items  composing  this 
sum  are  as  follows  : 


] 

Million  Mark 

i 

Interest 

Employees 

Employers 

Government 

Profits 

Sickness       

9C2.IJ 

4OI.I 

6l.Q 

Accident      

"147.2 

66.6 

Invalidity  and  old  age   

355-6 

355-6 

98.4 

69-3 

Total,  1885   1897  ....... 

1308.1 

I^O^.O 

107.8 

Percentage  of  total  expenditure  .     . 

44.98 

44-83 

3.38 

6.8 

The  years  1898  to  1900  show  returns  from  sick  insurance 
of  584,800,000  marks;  from  accidents,  277,800,000  marks; 
from  invalidity  and  old  age,  about  441,000,000  marks, —  which 
brings  the  total  up  to  4,311,900,000  marks;  by  this  time  this 
sum  will  beyond  doubt  exceed  5,000,000,000  marks. 

These  sums  cover  the  claims  and  go  towards  forming  the 
funds  of  the  organizations  of  workmen's  insurance.  These 
funds  increase  with  an  extraordinary  speed.  Thus  in  1897  sick- 
benefit  clubs  were  in  the  possession  of  146,500,000  marks; 
associations,  of  157,800,000;  and  insurance  institutions,  of 
585,200,000  marks, — forming  a  total  of  889,502,609  marks, 
while  towards  the  end  of  1900  the  invalidity-insurance  institu- 
tions and  nine  special  establishments  showed  an  accumulation 
of  847,195,466.73  marks.1 

The  costs  of  administration  were  during  the  period  from  1885 
to  1897  altogether  205,200,000  marks,  that  is,  10. 1  per  cent  of 
the  total  expenditure.  They  show,  however,  a  tendency  to 
decrease  ;  they  were  individually  as  follows  : 


1885-1897 

1898 

1900 

6.0% 

5.7% 

IQ.6 

14.-? 

9-o% 

I  7.4 

IO.7 

6.4 

1  Towards  the  end  of  1901,929,162,180.19  marks.  Amtliche  Nachrichten,  1903, 
No.  I,  pp.  146  and  167. 


WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY 


577 


The  claims  paid  show  a  very  steady  increase  ;  the  amounts 
are  stated  in  the  accompanying  table. 

Of  this  expenditure  of  2,413,- 
800,000  marks  between  1885  and 
1889,  48.3  per  cent  was  covered 
by  the  rates  of  workmen,  45.5 
per  cent  by  employers,  and  6.2 
per  cent  by  the  government.  For 
1900  the  expenditure  of  the  in- 
dividual classes  was,  respectively, 
176,500,000  (sickness),  101,100,- 
ooo  (accidents),  and  85,900,000 
(old  age  and  invalidity),  —  alto- 
gether 363,500,000  marks,  almost 
a  million  marks  daily.  In  1901 
the  expenditure  increased  in  the 
accident  class  to  1 1 5,000,000  and 
in  the  invalidity  and  old-age  class 
to  98,000,000. 

The   sick   benefits   paid  from 

1885  to  1900  numbered  42,800,000  cases,  with  720,400,000 
days  of  sickness;  down  to  190*1,  1,033,301  accident  claims  were 
paid;  from  January  i,  1891,  to  the  end  of  1901,  734,251  pen- 
sions were  paid  for  invalidity,  14,309  for  sickness,  and  389,971 
for  old  age  ;  in  all  1,138,531  pensions  were  paid  by  the  forty 
invalidity-insurance  institutions  and  establishments  mentioned 
above.  Towards  January  i,  1902,  these  were  paying  675,095 
individual  pensions. 

The  figures  quoted  show  what  enormous  sums  were  collected 
by  the  organizations  of  workmen's  insurance  and  what  con- 
siderable masses  of  population  were  and  are  benefiting  by 
these.  To  fully  appreciate  these  results  we  should  compare  the 
present  situation  of  the  German  workman  with  that  previous 
to  the  reforms  in  question.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  1876  there 
were  in  Germany  5239  sick-benefit  clubs  having  869,204 
members;  as  late  as  1880  some  progress  is  noticeable  in 
Prussia,  but  even  then  we  find  only  one  and  one-third  million 


Rate  of 

Year 

Million 
Marks 

Increment 
against  the 

PrecedingYear 

1885 

54-1 

1886 

61.9 

144% 

1887 

68.1 

1  0.0 

1888 

78.2 

14.8 

1889 

92.6 

18.4 

1890 

112.7 

21.7 

1891 

140.4 

24.6 

1892 

159.6 

137 

1893 

178.9 

1  2.  1 

1894 

189.0 

5.6 

l895 

208.6 

10.4 

1896 

229.1 

9.8 

1897 

256.4 

II.9 

I898 

279.7 

9.I 

I899 

3°4-7 

8.9 

1885-1899 

2413.8 

578         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


insured  against  sickness  and  a  still   smaller  number  against 
accident,  invalidity,   and  old  age. 

The  satisfactory  part  of  German  compulsory  workmen's  insur- 
ance rests  not  only  upon  its  financial  success  ;  the  very  fact 
that  44.98  per  cent  of  the  total  was  contributed  by  the  work- 
men themselves  shows  what  an  excellent  school  of  thrift  and 
providence  it  has  proved  itself  to  the  persons  concerned.  Not 
much  less  (namely,  44.83  per  cent  of  the  total)  represents  the 
contribution  of  the  employers,  —  a  sacrifice  which  to  our  mind 
possesses  even  greater  social  importance  than  the  contribution 
of  the  workmen.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  first,  that  this  sum 
contains  an  increase  of  workmen's  pay;  second,  that  this  in- 
crease is  employed  towards  saving  and  supporting  the  working 
power  of  the  employed  classes ;  and  that  it  supplants  success- 
fully the  contributions  which  the  whole  community  formerly  had 
to  pay  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  pauper  workman,  and 
which,  after  all,  went  to  benefit  the  employer. 


] 

Million  Mark 

s 

1885-1897 

1899 

1900 

Medical  aid                                                             . 

2A  "J  4. 

-?I  02 

•JA    "IT 

Medicaments  etc.          

IQQ.  S 

24.  c6 

2C.QQ 

t^8  -» 

6"s  ?  s 

6Q  CK 

Pecuniary  benefits  to  their  families    
Pecuniary  benefits  in  maternity  cases      .... 
Infirmaries  and  reconvalescence          

3J"'- 

9.0 

1  6.6 

I-?8.7 

vj-jj 

2<;  28 

vy-yj 

27.  C8 

Funeral  benefits             

44.  Q 

Other  expenses,  as  transportation,  etc  

76.7 

Apart  from  this  purely  economic  point  there  is  the  question 
of  popular  hygiene  yet  to  consider.  Formerly  the  workman  in 
case  of  sickness  or  accident  would  generally  seek  medical  advice 
and  attendance  either  too  late  or  not  at  all.  Cures  undertaken 
in  the  far  from  hygienic  surroundings  of  the  workman's  dwell- 
ings were  not  always  satisfactory,  were  hardly  ever  carried 
through,  and,  at  the  best,  expensive  drugs  had  to  be  dispensed 
with,  because  the  workman's  savings  and  his  credit  would  soon 


WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY  579 

be  exhausted.  These  evils  were  palliated  considerably  by  the 
sick-benefit  clubs,  which  provided  the  sick  with  medical  aid, 
medicine,  and  financial  support,  thus  partly  at  least  making 
good  the  loss  of  wages.  An  enumeration  of  the  individual 
items  (see  table  on  opposite  page)  of  expenditure  in  the  sick- 
benefit  clubs  under  the  new  law  will  still  better  show  the  full 
scope  of  their  activity.  This  expenditure  shows  an  increase  in 
fairly  constant  proportions  as  follows : 


Years  

1806 

1807 

1898 

1800 

IQOO 

Million  marks  

118.72 

130.44 

138.68 

I55-78 

172.70 

The  immediate  result  of  this  activity  shows  itself  in  a  decrease 
of  mortality  among  the  members  of  sick-benefit  clubs.  Between 
1888  and  1897  the  percentages  of  deaths  by  years  were:  0.96, 
0.95,  0.99,  0.98,  0.98,  0.90,  0.89,  0.86,  0.85. 

The  influence  of  associations  and  invalidity-insurance  insti- 
tutions lies  also  in  a  similar  direction. 

The  associations  and  executive  authorities  spent  from  1885  to 
1898  on  general  medical  and  medicinal  assistance,  39,114,523 
marks;  in  1899,  6,439,420.19;  and  in  1900,  6,919,962.45  marks. 
If  to  this  we  add  2,562,790  marks  that  have  been  spent  by  the 
same  institutions  on  assisting  early  cases  of  sickness  to  the 
thirteenth  week,  we  find  a  total  expenditure  on  sickness  of  over 
55,000,000  marks  between  1885  and  1900.  The  importance  of 
such  early  help  follows  from  the  fact  that  during  the  year  1896 
out  of  9619  cases  80  per  cent  (7677)  were  treated  on  this  basis 
with  complete  success. 

In  the  class  of  accidents  we  are  also  able  to  trace  the  favor- 
able results  obtained  through  the  activity  of  associations  and 
executive  authorities  ;  we  find  the  proportion  of  serious  cases 
decreasing,  though  the  general  number  of  accidents  insured  is 
constantly  increasing  (see  table  on  following  page). 

Finally,  we  wish  to  mention  here  the  accident  wards  (Unfall- 
stationeri}  instituted,  for  example,  in  Berlin  by  eight  local 
associations;  in  other  places  it  is  the  duty  of  these  associa- 
tions to  see  that  boxes  with  bandages  and  so  forth  be  kept 


580        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 
NUMBER  OF  PERSONS  TO  WHOM  BENEFITS  WERE  FIRST  AWARDED 


Absolute 

Per  1000  Insured 

Accident  Caused 

Accident  Caused 

Year 

Total 

Permanent 

£>>, 

TWal 

Permanent 

b£ 

Death  i 

Incapacity 

|| 

lotai 

Death1 

Incapacity 

l| 

Entire 

Partial 

jj  8 

Entire 

Partial 

II 

1886 

10,540 

2,716 

1,778 

3,961 

2,085 

2.83 

0-73 

0.48 

1.  06 

0.56 

1887 

17,102 

3,270 

3.166 

8,462 

2,204 

4.15 

0.79 

0.77 

2.05 

0.54 

1888 

21,057 

3,645 

2,203 

11,023 

4,186 

2.04 

0-35 

O.2I 

.07 

0.41 

1889 

31,019 

5,185 

2,882 

16,337 

6,615 

2.32 

o-39 

O.22 

.22 

0.49 

1890 

41,420 

5,958 

2,681 

22,615 

10,166 

3-04 

0.44 

O.2O 

.66 

0.74 

I89I 

50,507 

6,346 

2,561 

27,778 

13.812 

2.8o 

0.35 

0.14 

•54 

0.77 

1892 

54,827 

5,8ll 

2,640 

30,569 

15,807 

3-04 

0.32 

O.I5 

.69 

0.88 

1893 

61,874 

6,245 

2,487 

36,236 

16,906 

3-41 

0.34 

0.14 

2.OO 

0-93 

1894 

68,677 

6,250 

,752 

38,952 

21,723 

3-78 

0.34 

O.IO 

2.14 

1.20 

1895 

74.467 

6,335 

,668 

40,527 

25.937 

4-05 

o-35 

0.09 

2.  2O 

I.4I 

1896 

85,272 

6,989 

,524 

44,373 

32,386 

4.84 

0-39 

0.09 

2.52 

1.84 

I897 

91,171 

7,287 

,452 

46,489 

35.943 

5.08 

0.41 

0.08 

2-59 

2.OO 

1898 

96,774 

7,848 

,109 

47,764 

40,053 

5-30 

o-43 

0.06 

2.62 

2.19 

1899 

104,811 

7,999 

,297 

51,240 

44,275 

5.63 

o-43 

0.07 

2-75 

2.38 

1900 

106,447 

8,449 

,366 

51,111 

45.521 

5.63 

0-45 

0.07 

2.70 

2.41 

1886-1900 

915,965 

90,333 

30,566 

477,447 

317,619 

4.03 

0.40 

0.13 

2.10 

1.40 

1902 

1  1  6,089 

8,359 

1,416 

54,340 

5L974 

6.15 

0.44 

0.08 

2.88 

2-75 

in  all  factories ;  also  that  at  least  one  of  the  working  staff  be 

instructed  in  first  aid  to  the  injured. 

We  find  also  similar  provisions  in 
the  Invalid  Insurance  Act  of  1899. 
The  insurance  institutions  have  the 
right  to  provide  medical  and  medicinal 
assistance  to  sick  workmen  before  the 
term  prescribed  (twenty-six  weeks), 
if  the  disease  threatens  to  end  in  in- 
capacity to  work;  in  this  case  these 
institutions  receive  a  compensation 
from  sick-benefit  clubs.  Moreover,  if 
there  is  ground  to  believe  that  the 
person  receiving  an  invalid  pension 

1  The  number  of  fatal  accidents  is  given  in  this  table  for  the  sake  of  convenience. 


Year 

Marks 

1891 

372.84 

1892 

31,884.20 

1893 

108,338.52 

1894 

364,576.61 

1895 

631,788.98 

1896 

I 

,i75»5°4-38 

1897 

I 

,993.592-22 

1898 

2 

,769,330.23 

I899 

4 

,056,975.19 

1900 

6,210,720.33 

1901 

7,912,219.85 

WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY  581 

will  regain  his  ability  to  work,  the  insurance  institutions  may 
procure  for  him  the  means  of  taking  the  treatment  required. 
Thus  from  1891  to  1901  they  expended  16,500,000  marks  for 
the  purposes  mentioned  (see  table  on  opposite  page). 

Special  efforts  are  made  to  combat  consumption,  either  by 
cooperating  directly  with  the  Central  Committee  for  Building 
Sanatoria  for  Consumptives  or  by  providing  the  necessary  capi- 
tal at  low  rates.1  The  returns  of  these  institutions  make  a  very 
favorable  showing.  Of  consumptive  cases  which  were  cured, 
or  at  least  considerably  improved,  the  percentages  were  :  in 
1897,  68  ;  in  1898,  74;  in  1899,  74;  in  1900,  72  ;  and  in  1901, 
77.  Of  other  patients  in  these  years,  respectively,  69,  73,  71,  72, 
and  74  per  cent.  General  mortality  from  consumption  is  steadily 
on  the  decrease;  in  places  with  a  population  above  15,000  it 
was,  per  100,000  :  in  1895,  249.2  ;  in  1896,  234;  in  1897,  230; 
in  1898,  213.6;  in  1899,  221.8,  and  in  1900,  222.6. 

Besides  their  medical  activity  the  organs  of  workmen's  insur- 
ance, and  especially  the  professional  associations,  are  super- 
vising the  sanitation  of  factories  and  similar  establishments. 
They  work  in  conjunction  with  the  special  official  inspectors, 
of  whom  in  1896  there  were  280,  while  the  supervisors  of  the 
association  numbered  201. 

After  the  exposition  of  its  economical  and  sanitary  influ- 
ence the  question  of  the  moral  and  educational  value  of  com- 
pulsory insurance  arises.  Many  points  are,  of  course,  patent 
at  the  first  glance  ;  almost  all  writers  on  the  subject  accentu- 
ate the  legal  and  the  social  rise  of  the  working  class  through 
education  to  a  greater  independence  in  mind  and  action,  the 
pacifying  influence  upon  social  relations,  and  the  encourage- 
ment towards  a  more  sober  and  ordered  mode  of  life.  The 
change  wrought  by  it  upon  the  workman's  mental  attitude 
has  not,  however,  received  that  attention  which  it  indubitably 
deserves. 

Of  all  evils  inherent  in  the  "  lower  classes "  that  are  at 
present  accessible  to  the  active  care  of  the  legislator,  there  is 

1  In  1900,  3,766,761.78  marks  and  in  1901,  5,038,751.39  marks  were  expended 
by  these  institutions  for  this  purpose  alone. 


582         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

none  worse  than  the  entire  absence  of  motives  for  thrift  and 
providence.  No  doubt,  the  contemporary  workman  may  have 
the  same  predisposition,  even  the  same  leanings  towards  social 
"decency"  and  prudence;  but  the  conditions  of  his  existence 
are  such  that  frugality  based  on  individual  effort  often  requires 
considerable  sacrifices  and  yet  often  has  the  result  that  the 
first  adverse  fortune  will  blow  the  petty  savings  to  the  winds. 

As  a  means  to  overcome  the  sullen  fatalistic  indifference 
born  of  such  knowledge,  compulsory  insurance  has  certainly 
the  least  heinous  aspect.  Its  further  educational  value  will,  of 
course,  depend  upon  the  form  which  the  subsidies  derived  from 
it  will  take.  If  the  consciousness  of  the  workingman  will  see 
in  them  not  benevolence  but  his  due,  that  has  been  earned  by 
'personal  effort  and  work,  his  self-esteem  is  sure  to  be  raised. 

There  is  current  in  German  literature  an  interpretation  of 
these  legal  relations  which  is  based  upon  the  principle  of  the 
financial  law ;  we  find  it  insisted  upon  that  the  contributions 
paid  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  certain  kind  of  tax  that  has 
no  relation  whatever,  either  economic  or  legal,  to  the  benefits 
paid.  According  to  this  view  workmen's  insurance  should  not 
be  looked  upon  as  an  insurance  proper,  but  as  a  kind  of  "  state 
provision"  (staatliche  Fursorge),  which  is  something  not  far 
removed  from  ordinary  poor  relief. 

Not  wishing  to  enter  upon  a  thorough  discussion  of  these 
views,  we  merely  wish  to  mention  that  such  theories  are  sup- 
ported by  nothing  extant  in  legislation,  and  that  their  realiza- 
tion would  bring  forth  effects  directly  opposite  to  those  aimed 
at.  Suffice  it  to  point  out  the  dislike  with  which  any  taxation 
is  received  by  the  populace.  By  calling  the  law  one  of  "  work- 
men's insurance,"  and  the  payments  collected  from  the  insured 
"shares,"  the  legislator  has  admitted  no  inconsistency,  for  it 
was  distinctly  emphasized  that  the  insurance  benefits  have 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  poor  relief,  and  that  the  "  insured  " 
has  a  legal  claim  on  them  in  case  of  illness,  accident,  incapacity, 
and  old  age. 

Turning  from  the  workman  to  the  employer,  we  find  that  the 
interests  of  the  latter  have  visibly  profited  by  the  improvement 


WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY  583 

of  the  conditions  of  labor  of  the  former,  which  has  been 
followed  by  an  increased  productiveness  of  his  work.  There 
has  been,  and  still  is,  much  opposition  of  employers  to  com- 
pulsory insurance,  yet  on  the  whole  there  is  no  lack  of  con- 
ciliatory opinions  coming  from  the  same  camp.  One  of  the 
chief  objections,  namely,  that  the  increased  expense  of  labor 
would  impair  the  competitive  power  of  German  industry  abroad, 
has  been  met  by  the  argument  that  even  before  the  time  of 
compulsory  insurance  many  employers  did  insure  their  em- 
ployees with  private  companies  without  any  prejudice  to  their 
own  interests  ;  also  that  the  expenditure  imposed  upon  the  em- 
ployer is  comparatively  insignificant.1 

Without  going  to  the  length  of  some  writers,  who  would  fain 
ascribe  the  enormous  development  which  German  industry  has 
shown  of  late  to  compulsory  insurance,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  it  contributed  to  it  in  no  small  degree,  if  it  were  only  by 
strengthening  the  purchasing  power  of  the  home  market. 

Compulsory  insurance  has  also  vastly  improved  the  relations 
between  workman  and  employer.  Accustomed  as  the  German 
people  are  to  be  led  by  the  government,  both  parties  are 
enabled  to  meet  on  its  neutral  platform,  are  brought  nearer 
through  discussion  of  common  affairs  or  arbitration  in  disputes, 
are  familiarized  with  quiet  and  businesslike  argumentation,  and 
are  better  acquainted  with  each  other's  needs,  wants,  and  modes 
of  thinking.  Thus  an  esprit  de  corps  is  developing,  drawing  the 
attention  from  narrowly  selfish  to  broader  common  interests. 
Evidence  of  this  is  seen  in  a  whole  series  of  social  measures 
which  are  directed  towards  these  ends  and  which  were  initiated 
by  the  employers. 

It  seems  almost  premature  as  yet  to  venture  a  discussion  as 
to  how  far  the  whole  nation  as  such  has  profited  by  the  measures 
in  question.  Some  parts  of  the  whole  problem  may,  however, 
be  attacked  even  now. 

In  the  first  place,  the  poor-law  unions  have  found  powerful 
assistance  in  compulsory  insurance,  together  with  all  other 
branches  of  official  and  private  benevolence.  Although  there 

1  According  to  Greisel,  it  does  not  exceed  5^  per  cent  of  the  wages. 


584         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

are  no  official  statements  extant  on  this  matter,  as  it  is  not 
considered  in  German  statistics  at  all,  it  may  suffice  to  point 
out  that  those  circumstances  that  make  for  indigence  are  the 
very  ones  which  are  most  insured  against.  Thus,  of  the  total  of 
all  cases  insured,  at  least  50  per  cent  were  against  contingencies 
that  ordinarily  lead  towards  impoverishment. 

It  would,  of  course,  be  a  great  mistake  to  assume  that  the 
weight  thus  taken  off  the  shoulders  of  poor-law  unions  should 
be  equivalent  to  the  figure  stated ;  for,  apart  from  the  difficulty 
of  bringing  into  the  medley  of  all  causes,  objective  and  sub- 
jective, any  system  that  would  fit  them  for  the  application  of 
statistical  calculations,  any  correspondence  of  effects  would  be 
disturbed  by  the  fact  that  the  poor-law  unions  cooperate  with 
the  insurance  organizations,  doling  out  subventions  sometimes 
rather  late,  and  fairly  often  in  insufficient  proportions. 

Neither  can  there  be  any  correspondence  for  the  further  rea- 
son that  the  new  acts  (of  July  1 1,  1891,  for  Prussia,  and  March 
12,  1894,  for  the  Empire)  on  poor  relief  have  caused  a  consid- 
erable increase  in  the  budgets,  these  budgets  in  their  turn  being 
largely  dependent  upon  purely  adventitious  chances  and  local 
conditions  (for  example,  a  large  influx  of  unemployed). 

Finally,  the  means  that  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  poor-relief 
authorities  are  almost  always  inadequate,  and  with  the  easing  of 
the  burden  in  one  direction  the  expenses  of  other  departments 
will  therefore  often  increase. 

These  are  the  reasons  why  no  exact  numerical  statements 
were  obtained  by  the  inquiries  conducted  in  1894  by  the 
German  Association  for  Poor  Relief  and  Charity  and  in  1897 
by  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  German  Empire  on  the  initi- 
ative of  the  Chancellor.  Nevertheless,  opinions  were  every- 
where expressed  that  all  benevolent  institutions  did  profit  by  the 
activity  of  compulsory  insurance,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in 
some  cases  the  budget  of  these  institutions  grew  considerably 
larger.  The  Act  on  Sick  Insurance  was  everywhere  the  most 
helpful,  the  Old-Age  and  Invalidity  Insurance  Act  less  so,  and 
the  Act  on  Accidents  least  of  all.  In  a  few  instances,  however, 
we  are  even  able  to  give  numerical  statements.  In  Saxony  the 


WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY 


585 


items  of  expenditure  for  poor  relief  were  the  following  (per 
10,000  of  population): 


1885 

1890 

67.0 

M.I 

7.6 

1*0 

Old  age     

-11.7 

-12.7 

Funeral  benefits                    .          .               .               .... 

O  7 

O  7 

W'J 

UO 

In  Berlin  the  expenses  for  poor  relief  from  1880-1881  to 
1895-1896  were  by  years  per  capita  the  following:  4.16 
(marks),  4.15,  3.98,  3.90,  3.77,  3.70,  3.71,  3.59,  3.51,  3.51, 
3.24,  3.41,  3.64,  3.38,  3.35,  3.35,  3.29.  In  Cologne  these 
expenses  fell  between  1879-1880  and  1896-1897  from  7.81 
marks  to  4.66  marks  per  capita. 

The  workmen's  insurance  organizations  need  not  necessarily 
invest  their  funds  in  government  stock  ;  they  also  have  the  right 
to  supply  capital  to  institutions  of  public  utility.  The  follow- 
ing table  shows  what  considerable  sums  were  loaned  for  such 
purposes. 

The  thirty-one  invalidity-insurance  institutions  and  nine 
special  establishments  had  invested  towards  the  end  of  1901: 


Marks 


1.  Towards  building  workmen's  dwellings 

2.  Towards  agricultural  credits  (on  mortgages,  narrow-gauge 

railways,  keeping  of  roads,  improvement  of  soil,  cattle 
farming,  etc.) 

3.  Towards  building  infirmaries  and  convalescent  homes  of 

all  kinds,  refuges  and  shelters,  public  baths,  homes 
for  the  blind,  infants'  schools,  slaughterhouses,  water- 
works, canals,  drainage,  cooperative  stores,  etc.  .  .  . 


87,529,567.00 
64,588,410.00 

108,237,387.80 


Total 


260,355,364.80 


Compulsory  insurance  may  yet  be  destined  to  play  a  very  im- 
portant role  in  the  future  of  Germany  in  the  capacity  of  a 
savings  institution,  hoarding,  as  it  were,  a  large  and  cheap 
capital  to  be  used  for  sudden  and  urgent  public  needs. 


586         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

A  less  prominent  and  tangible  yet  very  valuable  service  has 
been  rendered  by  compulsory  insurance  to  Germany  in  the 
creation  of  a  wholly  new  class  of  small  annuitants,  which  fact, 
besides  being  itself  very  gratifying,  has  yet  the  further  result, 
that  it  has  made  the  annuitants  leave  the  more  expensive  in- 
dustrial centers  for  the  country,  thus  forming  something  of  an 
antidote  to  the  "  rural  exodus."  Some  capital  is  thus  conveyed 
to  the  villages,  compensating  them  at  least  to  a  slight  degree 
for  the  loss  they  suffer  from  this  emigration  of  the  younger 
element. 

As  to  the  influence  which  compulsory  insurance  has  had  upon 
the  physical  and  moral  hygiene  of  those  parts  of  the  nation 
that  it  did  not  immediately  concern,  we  might  almost  repeat 
what  has  already  been  stated  as  to  its  value  for  the  working 
class.  There  is  the  improvement  of  sanitary  conditions,  which 
though  starting  at  one  point  would  necessarily  spread  through 
all  adjoining  social  layers ;  there  is  also  the  raising  of  the 
nation's  vital  forces  by  the  increase  of  the  number  of  healthy 
and  able-bodied  individuals. 

In  this  connection  it  seems  justifiable  to  point  out  the  steady 
decrease  of  general  mortality,  in  which  compulsory  insurance 
was,  of  course,  not  the  only  factor,  yet  certainly  one  of  the  most 
important.  The  yearly  mortality  per  thousand  was:  in  1851- 
1860,  27.8;  in  1861-1870,  28.4;  in  1871-1880,  28.8;  in 
1881-1890,  26.5  ;  in  1891-1900,  23.5.  This  sudden  decrease 
is  even  more  forcibly  shown  by  a  comparison  of  the  figures 
giving  the  average  mortality  in  town  and  village  during  the 
interval  from  1867  to  1894.  Down  to  the  eighties  the  mortality 
in  villages  was  quite  2  per  cent  lower  than  in  towns  ;  from  about 
the  middle  of  that  decade  this  difference  begins  to  diminish 
rather  quickly,  and  in  1890  it  turns  in  the  opposite  direction, 
till  the  average  mortality  of  towns  falls  below  that  of  villages. 
Without  overlooking  many  other  influences  combining  to  pro- 
duce this  effect,  we  are  yet  fully  inclined  to  see  even  in  this,  to 
a  great  extent,  the  action  of  compulsory  insurance.1 

1  It  may  also  be  noted  that  the  percentage  of  suicide  in  Germany  is  almost 
constant,  while  it  continues  increasing  in  other  countries. 


WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  GERMANY 


587 


Improving  general  social  and  economic  conditions  has  natu- 
rally had  an  influence  also  upon  the  decrease  of  crime.  The 
following  table,  giving  the  number  of  sentences  passed  in  the 
respective  years  for  theft  per  10,000  of  population  above  twelve 
years  of  age,  will  give  a  fit  illustration  of  what  has  been  said. 

In  view  of  the  many  tangible  results  that 
have  been  obtained  in  Germany  by  means  of 
compulsory  insurance  of  workmen,  there  is 
nothing  surprising  in  the  circumstance  that 
writers  on  the  subject,  especially  if  they  be 
Germans,  do  not  stint  their  praises  for  the 
whole  legislation  in  toto,  lapsing  at  every 
attempt  at  a  critical  valuation  of  its  measures 
into  rather  full-voiced  panegyrics.  This  very 
pardonable  tendency  is  strongly  inherent  even 
in  comparative  sketches,  which  take  from  it 
a  rather  strong  color.1  Official  publications2 
are  great  sinners  in  this  respect,  though  the 
tendency  shows  itself  generally  merely  in  a 
partial  depression  of  the  critical  faculties, 
which  by  no  means  interferes  with  the  exact- 
ness of  the  material  supplied.  We  find  but  few  voices  raised 
in  protest  against  this  exuberance  of  general  satisfaction. 

They  who  point  out  the  insufficiencies  and  inefficiencies  we  are 
guilty  of,  who  are  not  averse  to  noticing  superiority  though  it  be  of  a 
foreign  pattern,  show  certainly  more  public  spirit  than  those  who  fold 
their  hands  with  a  self-satisfied  conviction  that  now  at  last  Germany 
is  heading  the  progress  of  social  reform.  ...  It  has  always  been  the 
wiser  course  to  take  the  good  where  you  find  it  than  to  rest  on  laurels.3 

There  could  be  nothing  worse  for  us  than  if  now  we  found  full 
satisfaction  in  self-pleased  pride,  ruminating  in  contemplative  idle- 
ness over  our  work  so  excellently  well  done.4 

1  See  Zacher,  Die  Arbeiter-Versicherung  im  Auslande,  1898-1900.     Boediker, 
Die  Arbeiterversicherung  in  den  Europaischen  Staaten,  1895. 

2  See  the  pamphlet  written  for  the  Paris  Exhibition,  1900. 
8  E.  Fr.  in  Soziale  Praxis,  1900,  p.  34. 

4  Frankenberg  in  Braun's  Archiv  fur  soziale  Gesetzgebung  und  Statistik,  Vol. 
XII,  p.  72. 


Years 

Per  10,000 

1882 

32-6 

1883 

31-3 

1884 

3O.I 

1885 

27.9 

1886 

27.2 

I887 

26.0 

1888 

254 

1889 

27.8 

1890 

27.2 

1891 

28.1 

1892 

31.0 

1893 

26.9 

1894 

26.6 

I89S 

25.6 

1899 

19.4 

1900 

20.2 

588         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Van  der  Borght,  in  spite  of  the  exaggerations  he  has  com- 
mitted himself  to  in  his  book,  is  also  led  to  the  remark : 

Of  course,  we  have  no  right  to  rest,  jubilating  at  what  we  have 
attained.  In  the  very  structure  of  workingmen's  insurance  there  is 
much  yet  to  be  repaired  and  completed. 

There  are  certainly  many  gaps  and  omissions  left  in  legisla- 
tion. Yet  to  us  this  does  not  seem  to  be  all  that  can  be  said 
in  criticising  it ;  there  are  some  points  of  no  mean  importance 
which  should  be  questioned  more  seriously  than  has  been  done, 
—  a  task  we  intend  to  take  up  at  some  other  time. 

G6TTINGEN.  NORBERT    PlNKUS. 


XXVII 
INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT1 

The  purpose  of  workingmen's  insurance  is  to  make  pro- 
vision for  the  assistance  of  workingmen  when  through  any 
incapacity  they  are  unable  to  earn  their  usual  wages.  A  work- 
ingman  may  be  unable  to  work  as  the  result  of  any  of  four 
contingencies,  —  accident,  sickness,  old  age  or  invalidity,  or 
inability  to  obtain  employment ;  and  a  complete  system  of 
assistance  must  necessarily  cover  all  four  of  these  cases.  It  is 
now  very  generally  admitted  that  insurance  of  some  kind, 
mutual  or  state-aided,  voluntary  or  compulsory,  offers  the  best 
means  of  providing  for  the  first  three  contingencies,  that  is, 
for  those  involving  physical  disability.  Within  recent  years, 
however,  the  desirability  of  extending  the  field  of  insurance  to 
the  fourth  contingency,  where  inability  to  earn  wages  is  the 
result  of  involuntary  idleness,  has  been  strongly  urged.  It  is 
the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  consider  to  what  extent  a  system 
of  insurance  can  be  profitably  employed  in  this  last  case. 

Fortunately,  we  need  not  study  this  problem  from  the  purely 
theoretical  standpoint.  The  fact  that  during  the  widespread 
industrial  depression  of  recent  years  many  workingmen  have 
been  forced  to  remain  in  involuntary  idleness  has  led  to 

1  From  the  Political  Science  Qtiarterly,  Vol.  XII,  1897,  pp.  476-489.  See  also 
Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  upon  Unemployment,  1895. 

The  literature  of  insurance  against  unemployment  is  already  extensive.  For 
the  best  account  of  the  Swiss  experiments  with  which  this  paper  chiefly  deals,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  two  Circulaires  of  the  Musee  Social,  Nos.  2  and  5  of  Series 
B  ;  the  report  of  the  French  Office  du  Travail,  Documents  sur  la  question  du 
chdmage,  1896  ;  and  the  paper  by  Eugene  Rostand,  "  De  1'assurance  centre  le 
chomage  involontaire,"  contained  in  the  report  of  the  third  session  of  the  Inter- 
national Congress  in  Relation  to  Accidents  to  Labor  and  Social  Insurance,  Milan, 
1894.  The  Circulaires  of  the  Musee  Social  give  the  most  complete  bibliography 
of  the  question  that  has  been  prepared. 

589 


590         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

attempts  in  various  countries  to  make  provision  against  unem- 
ployment through  some  system  of  insurance.  Conspicuous 
'  among  them  are  the  out-of-work  insurance  institutions  that 
have  been  created  in  several  of  the  cantons  of  Switzerland,  at 
Cologne,  and  at  Bologna.  Of  these  the  Swiss  organizations  are 
of  much  the  greatest  importance,  and  for  that  reason  most 
attention  will  be  devoted  to  their  operation.  A  consideration 
of  the  efforts  there  made  will  serve  not  only  to  illustrate  the 
principles  involved  in  the  organization  of  this  kind  of  an  insur- 
ance system  but  also  to  show  the  practical  difficulties  with 
which  its  administration  is  attended. 

The  first  attempt  under  government  auspices  to  provide  for 
insurance  against  unemployment  was  made  by  the  town  of 
Berne.  On  January  13,  1893,  the  town  council  provided  for 
the  creation  of  a  municipal  institution  for  the  insurance  of 
workingmen  against  unemployment.  Though  under  municipal 
authority,  membership  in  the  institution  was  left  entirely  vol- 
untary. Practically  the  only  condition  of  membership  was  the 
payment  of  monthly  dues  of  forty  centimes  ($0.077).  To  the 
fund  thus  accumulated  the  town  agreed  to  add  a  subsidy, 
the  maximum  amount  of  which  was  limited  to  five  thousand 
francs  ($965)  a  year.  The  constitution  also  provided  for  the 
receipt  of  gifts  from  employers  and  other  individuals. 

The  value  of  the  out-of-work  benefits  was  fixed  at  one  franc 
per  day  for  an  unmarried  man,  and  a  franc  and  a  half  for  a 
married  man.  This  relief  was  to  be  granted  only  during  the 
months  of  December,  January,  and  February.  To  be  entitled 
to  receive  it  a  member  must  have  paid  his  dues  regularly  during 
at  least  the  six  months  next  preceding,  and  must  have  been 
unable  to  obtain  work  during  at  least  fifteen  days.  Relief, 
when  granted,  however,  began  to  run  after  the  first  week  of 
unemployment.  Various  conditions  were  placed  .upon  those 
receiving  benefits,  in  order  to  protect  the  institution  against 
imposition.  Thus  members  out  of  work  had  to  present  them- 
selves twice  a  day  in  a  room  set  aside  for  that  purpose,  where 
they  might  spend  the  day  if  they  desired.  A  workingman  who 
refused  work  of  any  kind  lost  all  right  to  aid  of  any  kind :  a 


INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT  591 

member  thus  had  no  right  to  refuse  work  because  it  was  not 
in  his  trade.  There  were  various  other  cases  in  which  the 
workingman  lost  his  right  to  a  benefit:  for  instance,  when 
lack  of  employment  was  the  result  of  his  own  fault,  and  espe- 
cially when  he  had  engaged  in  a  strike.  The  administration  of 
the  fund  was  intrusted  to  a  commission  of  seven  members,  of 
whom  three  were  to  be  named  by  the  municipal  authorities,  two 
by  the  employers  contributing  to  the  fund,  and  two  by  the 
workingmen. 

This  institution  has  now  been  in  existence  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  to  furnish  some  indication  of  the  character  of  the 
results.  The  number  of  members  during  the  first  year,  1893- 
1894,  was  404.  Of  these  166  were  aided  during  the  year,  receiv- 
ing $1319.16,  or  an  average  of  $7.95  each.  The  highest  sum 
paid  to  any  one  person  was  $20.27.  The  total  expenditure  of 
the  year  was  $  1 508.30.  The  receipts  for  the  year  were  :  dues  of 
members,  $212.30;  gifts  from  employers  and  others,  $382.14; 
municipal  subsidy,  $913.86.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  mem- 
bers contributed  but  14  per  cent  of  the  total  receipts,  and  that 
they  received  in  actual  benefits  six  times  the  amount  paid  in 
by  them  as  dues.  One  would  think  that  under  such  excep- 
tionally favorable  circumstances  membership  would  increase 
rapidly.  Such,  however,  has  not  been  the  case.  During  the 
second  year,  1894-1895,  there  were  but  390  members,  or  14  less 
than  during  the  preceding  year.  Aid  was  given  to  219  persons, 
or  more  than  half  the  members,  to  the  extent  of  $1869.06,  or 
an  average  of  $8.53  each.  Only  $263.79  out  °f  tne  total  receipts 
of  $2249.86  came  from  dues  of  members.  The  ratio  of  this 
sum  to  the  amount  paid  out  in  benefits  is  14  per  cent,  the 
members  thus  receiving  on  an  average  seven  times  the  amount 
contributed  by  them. 

The  institution  was  first  established  for  but  two  years  as  an 
experiment.  In  1895,  the  two  years  having  elapsed,  the  town 
council  determined  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  to  continue 
it  in  operation.  Some  modifications  were,  however,  introduced 
in  its  organization.  Dues  were  raised  from  forty  to  fifty  cen- 
times per  month,  and  the  maximum  amount  of  the  municipal 


592         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

subsidy  was  raised  from  $965  to  $1351.  Daily  benefits  were 
increased  to  one  and  a  half  francs  for  unmarried  and  two  francs 
for  married  members.  In  addition,  the  administration  of  the 
municipal  employment  bureau,  which  had  until  then  been  an 
independent  institution,  was  attached  to  that  of  the  insurance 
fund.  The  result  of  these  changes  was  to  increase  the  opera- 
tions of  the  system.  On  December  31,  1895,  there  were  605 
members  enrolled,  of  whom  169,  cr  49  more  than  during  the 
preceding  year  to  the  same  date,  had  been  aided.  The  total 
receipts  during  the  year  1895-1896  were  $2213.99,  °f  which 
$312.70  were  derived  from  dues.  The  total  expenditures  were 
$2121.30,  of  which  $1932.22  were  for  benefits.  In  this  third 
year,  therefore,  slightly  over  six  times  the  amount  received  as 
dues  from  the  members  was  paid  in  benefits. 
^  Saint  Gall,  a  town  of  about  30,000  inhabitants,  was  the  first 
to  follow  the  example  of  Berne  in  providing  for  the  insurance 
of  workingmen  against  unemployment.  Its  policy,  however, 
differed  radically  from  that  of  Berne  in  that  it  adopted  the 
principle  of  compulsory  insurance.  By  the  law  of  May  14,  1894, 
the  canton  of  Saint  Gall  authorized  any  of  its  communes  to 
create  a  compulsory-unemployment  insurance  institution,  and 
provided  further  that  several  communes  might  combine  to 
organize  a  general  insurance  system.  It  was  on  the  basis  of 
this  law  that  the  town  of  Saint  Gall,  after  an  abortive  attempt 
to  unite  with  the  neighboring  communes  of  Tablatt  and  Strau- 
benzell,  founded  its  unemployment  insurance  fund  by  act  of 
June  23,  1895. 

The  principal  features  of  this  institution  may  be  summarized 
as  follows:  Membership  was  made  obligatory  upon  all  working- 
men  whose  daily  wages  did  not  exceed  five  francs,  excluding 
youths  and  apprentices  earning  less  than  two  francs  a  day. 
Weekly  dues  were  fixed  at  1 5  centimes  for  members  earning 
three  francs  or  under,  20  centimes  for  those  earning  from 
three  to  four  francs,  and  30  centimes  for  those  earning  more 
than  four.  The  amount  of  the  benefit  was  likewise  propor- 
tioned to  the  wages  of  the  recipient,  being  1.80,  2.10,  and 
2.40  francs  per  day  respectively  for  the  three  classes.  Benefits 


INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT  593 

could  not  be  paid  to  any  person  for  more  than  sixty  days  in  any 
one  year.  In  order  to  be  entitled  to  benefits  a  member  must 
have  paid  dues  uninterruptedly  for  at  least  six  months,  and  had 
to  show  that  for  at  least  five  days  he  had  not  been  able  to  secure 
work  suited  to  his  occupation  at  the  usual  wages  of  the  season. 
Any  man  who  was  without  work  as  the  result  of  his  own  fault, 
who  had  participated  in  a  strike,  or  who  refused  without  a  good 
reason  work  assigned  to  him  by  the  employment  bureau  which 
was  operated  in  connection  with  the  insurance  fund,  was  de- 
barred from  any  right  to  benefits.  Workingmen  incapacitated 
for  labor  through  sickness  or  accident  were  not  entitled  to 
benefits,  since  they  were  otherwise  insured  against  these  two 
contingencies.  In  addition  to  dues,  the  revenue  of  the  fund 
included  a  subsidy  from  the  town,  which,  according  to  the  law, 
could  not  exceed  a  maximum  of  two  francs  for  each  person 
insured  and  a  subsidy  from  the  canton.  No  account  was  taken, 
apparently,  of  gifts  and  donations  from  employers  or  other 
persons.  The  fund  was  administered  by  a  commission  of  nine 
members,  two  of  whom  were  appointed  by  the  municipal  author- 
ities and  seven  by  the  workingmen. 

This  institution  commenced  operations  July  I,  1895.  The 
law  being  obligatory,  the  first  duty  of  the  commissioners  was 
to  see  that  all  persons  to  whorn  the  law  applied  became  mem- 
bers. As  the  result  oftlxe  first  notice  1535  persons  joined;  a 
new  call  a  month  later  added  579  names  ;  and,  as  the  result  of 
further  efforts,  the  total  number  of  persons  enrolled  during  the 
first  year  was  increased  to  4220.  This  total  was  secured  only 
after  securing  over  150  convictions  of  persons  who  had  neg- 
lected to  answer  the  summons  to  enroll.  Of  the  total  number 
secured  2895  were  members  of  the  first  class,  or  those  earn- 
ing not  more  than  three  francs  ;  1179  of  the  second  class;  and 
but  146  of  the  third. 

During  the  year  430,  or  about  10  per  cent  of  the  members, 
registered  themselves  as  without  work.  Of  these  only  363 
received  benefits,  since  many  had  njot  made  the  required  con- 
tributions for  six  months.  To  the  beneficiaries  was  paid  a  total 
of  $4536.30,  or  an  average  of^io.55.  The  highest  amount 

i 


594         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

received  by  one  person  was  $24.32,  and  the  lowest  $1.74.    The 
receipts  and  expenditures  during  the  year  were  as  follows  : 

Receipts 

Contributions  of  members $4183.14 

Municipal  subsidy,  cash ^772.00 

Municipal  subsidy,  payment  of  operating  expenses     .  1084.44 

Interest 21.81 


$6061.39 
Expenditures 

Benefits $4536.30 

Operating  expenses 1084.44 

$5620.74 
Balance  on  hand $440.65 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  year  closed  with  a  surplus  in  the 
bank,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  city  paid  only  a  portion  of 
the  maximum  sum  that  it  could  be  required  to  pay.  It  should 
be  remembered,  however,  that  as  this  was  the  first  year  no 
benefits  were  paid  during  the  first  six  months,  since  no  member 
could  before  that  time  have  made  the  required  number  of  pay- 
ments. Accordingly,  the  officials  estimated  that  future  charges 
would  be  much  heavier  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  either 
to  increase  contributions  or  to  reduce  the  benefits. 

This  institution,  like  that  at  Berne,  was  created  for  a  pro- 
visional period  of  two  years.  Before  the  end  of  the  second  year, 
however,  the  city  council  on  November  8,  1896,  by  a  decisive 
vote  ordered  the  suspension  of  the  fund  after  June  30,  1897. 
The  first  experiment  in  compulsory  insurance  against  .unem- 
ployment was  thus  declared  a  failure.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
also  that  this  suppression  was  accomplished  on  the  motion  and 
through  the  votes  of  representatives  of  the  working  classes  in 
;the  council. 

A  detailed  account  of  the  organization  and  operations  of  the 
institution  at  Saint  Gall  has  been  given,  even  though  its  sup- 
pression has  been  definitely  decided  upon,  since  in  matters  such 
as  this  information  can  be  gained  from  failures  as  well  as  from 

successes.    It  is  worth  while,  therefore,  to  examine  some  of  the 
V 


INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT  595 

objections  that  were  raised  against  this  scheme.  The  first  was 
that  which  inevitably  arose  from  the  members  who  were  forced 
to  make  contributions  without  receiving  any  benefits  in  return. 
This  is  a  fundamental  objection.  The  liability  to  lack  of 
employment  varies  greatly  in  the  different  trades ;  so  that  to 
require  all  workingmen  earning  less  than  a  certain  sum  to 
become  contributors  to  an  insurance  fund,  as  was  done  at  Saint 
Gall,  results  in  positive  injustice.  Employees  having  steady 
employment,  such  as  factory  operatives,  are  made  to  contribute 
to  the  insurance  of  workingmen  such  as  those  in  the  building 
trades,  who  are  certain  to  be  unemployed  more  or  less  during 
the  year.  The  experiments  at  Berne  and  at  Saint  Gall  have 
shown  that  it  is  the  workingmen  in  the  building  trades  who 
surfer  most  from  lack  of  employment.  Thus,  in  the  former  city, 
though  membership  is  open  to  men  of  all  occupations  and  the 
benefits  are  six  or  seven  times  the  dues,  only  day  laborers,  for 
the  most  part  in  the  building  trades,  and  other  employees  in 
the  same  trades  have  availed  themselves  of  the  fund.  Out 
of  the  226  persons  registered  the  second  year  as  out  of  work, 
there  were  163  day  laborers,  18  plasterers  or  painters,  13  roof- 
ers, 10  masons,  9  carpenters,  4  stonecutters,  3  cabinet-makers, 
2  locksmiths,  I  wood  sawyer,  I  cement  worker,  and  I  fireman. 
It  will  be  observed  that  factory  employees  proper  were  abso- 
lutely unrepresented.  Turning  now  to  the  experience  of  Saint 
Gall  under  compulsory  insurance,  it  is  found  that,  though  both 
factory  and  building-trades  employees  were  required  to  be  in- 
sured, practically  all  the  persons  aided  belonged  to  the  latter 
class.  Of  the  430  persons  registered  as  out  of  work  during 
the  first  year  there  were  205  day  laborers,  47  masons,  18 
porters,  17  house  painters,  14  public  messengers,  13  dressmakers, 
12  plasterers,  n  carpenters,  and  10  roofers,  while  no  other 
occupation  was  represented  by  as  many  as  ten  persons. 

A  second  objection  was  the  great  difficulty  experienced  in 
enforcing  membership.  The  administrators  of  the  fund  found 
it  almost  impossible  to  compel  persons  to  become  members 
or  afterwards  to  pay  their  dues,  even  though  they  resorted  to 
prosecution  in  a  great  many  cases.  In  the  December  following 


596         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  commencement  of  operations  they  found  it  necessary  to 
send  notices  to  1 1 10  persons  who  were  behind  in  the  payment 
of  their  dues.  On  April  i  over  4000  francs  were  owing  by  about 
1300  persons. 

Finally,  it  was  complained  that  the  indemnities  were  much 
too  high.  It  was  found  that  the  efforts  of  those  out  of  work 
to  gain  employment  were  sensibly  relaxed.  Many  seemed  to 
use  every  effort  to  obtain  as  much  relief  as  possible,  seeking 
work  earnestly  only  after  they  had  been  aided  the  maximum 
number  of  sixty  days.  In  a  word,  self-help  seemed  to  have  been 
lessened  in  just  the  proportion  that  assistance  was  granted. 

In  spite  of  the  check  that  the  movement  for  the  insurance 
of  workingmen  has  received  in  Switzerland  through  the  sup- 
pression of  the  institution  at  Saint  Gall,  efforts  in  this  direction 
have  not  been  abandoned.  Though  it  is  generally  admitted  that 
both  the  Saint  Gall  and  the  Berne  systems  had  defects,  it  is 
claimed  that  they  were  such  as  lack  of  experience  rendered 
inevitable,  and  that  they  can  be  eliminated  by  a  more  scientific 
organization.  At  Basel  a  plan  is  now  under  consideration  that 
is  of  especial  interest,  since  it  involves  an  attempt  to  meet  the 
objections  which  have  been  urged  against  the  two  older  schemes. 
The  proposed  system  is  beyond  doubt  in  every  way  a  more 
detailed  and  more  carefully  worked  out  plan  of  insurance  than 
any  that  has  yet  been  put  into  operation. 

In  1894  the  council  of  state  of  Basel  submitted  to  the  gen- 
eral council  a  proposition  for  the  municipal  insurance  of  work- 
ingmen against  unemployment.  This  measure,  after  discussion, 
was  first  referred  to  a  committee  of  experts,  the  leading  spirit 
of  which  was  M.  Adler,  professor  of  political  economy  at  the 
University  of  Basel.  The  commission  reported  in  April,  1896, 
a  modified  plan.  After  a  full  discussion  this  report  was  referred 
to  a  committee  of  the  general  council,  which,  after  further  con- 
sideration, reported  a  specific  bill,  differing  in  but  slight  details 
from  the  proposition  of  the  committee  of  experts.  In  its  final 
form  the  plan  provides  for  the  compulsory  insurance  through 
a  municipal  fund  of  all  masons  and  excavators  and  all  working- 
men  subject  to  the  federal  factory  law  who  do  not  earn  more 


INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT  597 

than  2000  francs  a  year,  excluding,  however,  young  people  and 
apprentices  earning  less  than  300  francs  a  year.  In  adopting 
the  principle  of  compulsion,  however,  the  important  option  is 
given  to  the  workingmen  of  insuring  themselves  through  volun- 
tary organizations  instead  of  through  the  municipal  system. 
This  permission  was  granted  in  order  to  meet  the  objection 
that  was  urged  against  the  bill  as  first  framed  by  the  committee 
of  experts,  that  certain  classes  of  workingmen  had  already  vol- 
untarily insured  themselves  through  their  labor  organizations 
and  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  compel  them  to  become  members 
of  the  city  organization.  This  was  notably  true  of  the  members 
of  the  Typographia,  an  organization  of  the  printers  of  the  city. 

The  receipts  of  the  fund  consist  of  (i)  dues  from  members, 
(2)  contributions  from  employers,  (3)  a  subsidy  from  the  city, 
and  (4)  gifts  and  legacies.  For  the  payment  of  dues  and  the 
determination  of  the  amount  of  benefits  to  be  given,  members 
are  first  divided  into  three  categories,  —  factory  employees, 
workingmen  in  the  building  trades  who  are  the  least  subject  to 
unemployment,  and  other  workingmen  in  the  building  trades. 
The  object  of  this  division  is  to  take  account  of  the  differences 
in  the  degree  of  probability  of  unemployment.  Within  each  of 
these  categories  there  is  a  further  division  of  members  into 
three  classes,  according  as  their  weekly  earnings  are  1 5  francs 
or  under,  from  1 5  to  24  francs,  or  24  francs  or  over.  The  weekly 
contributions  demanded  of  these  classes  are  10,  15,  and  20  cen- 
times respectively  for  members  of  the  first  category;  20,  30, 
and  50  centimes  for  members  of  the  second  ;  and  30,  45,  and 
60  centimes  for  members  of  the  third.  The  contribution  of 
employers  is  fixed  at  10  centimes  per  week  per  workingman 
insured  in  the  first  category,  and  20  centimes  for  working- 
men  of  the  second  and  third  categories.  The  city  assumes  all 
the  expenses  of  management  and  agrees  to  grant  an  annual 
subsidy  of  25,000  francs. 

The  benefits  granted  to  members  out  of  work  vary  from 
80  centimes  to  2  francs  a  day.  They  are  graduated  in  an 
ingenious  manner  according  to  the  class  to  which  the  recip- 
ients belong  and  according  to  their  needs.  Thus  the  unmarried 


598         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

man,  the  married  woman,  and  the  widower  or  widow  without 
children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  receive  from  0.80  to  i 
franc  a  day  ;  the  widow  or  widower  with  children  under  four- 
teen years  of  age,  and  the  married  man  if  he  has  not  more  than 
one  child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  receive  from  1.20  to 
1.50  francs  per  day  ;  and,  finally,  the  married  man  with  several 
children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  receives  from  1.50  to  2 
francs.  The  benefits  of  the  married  man  are  reduced  20  or 
33  per  cent  if  his  wife  is  also  employed,  or  if  she  receives 
a  benefit  from  the  insurance  fund.  The  maximum  length  of 
time  during  which  benefits  can  be  paid  is  ninety  days.  An 
important  provision  is  that  there  may  be  paid,  in  place  of  the 
above  indemnities,  traveling  expenses  for  so  great  a  distance 
as  two  hundred  kilometers,  and  an  indemnity  of  I  franc  to  an 
unmarried  or  2  francs  to  a  married  man  who  desires  to  leave 
the  city  to  obtain  work  elsewhere.  This  is  to  prevent  a  work- 
ingman  who  has  an  opportunity  of  finding  work  from  remain- 
ing a  charge  upon  the  fund.  No  benefits  are  payable  when 
the  lack  of  employment  is  the  result  of  a  dispute  of  employees 
with  their  employer  concerning  the  amount  of  their  wages ; 
when  the  member  voluntarily  quits  his  employment;  when  he 
has  been  dismissed  for  breaking  the  factory  or  other  regula- 
tions; when  the  lack  of  employment  is  the  result  of  sickness  or 
accident  against  which  the  workingman  is  elsewhere  insured ; 
or  when,  without  a  valid  excuse,  the  person  insured  refuses 
work  offered  to  him. 

The  question  of  insurance  against  unemployment  has  also 
received  attention  in  other  Swiss  cities,  notably  Zurich  and 
Lausanne.  As  yet,  however,  the  discussions  have  not  resulted 
in  any  distinct  propositions ;  and  it  will,  therefore,  be  unneces- 
sary to  consider  them.  The  institutions  that  have  been  actually 
created  at  Cologne  and  Bologna  offer  few  points  of  interest. 
The  one  at  Cologne  was  created  in  1896  and  is  under  mu- 
nicipal management.  Insurance  under  it  is  purely  voluntary. 
Any  workingman  over  eighteen  years  of  age  and  a  resident  of 
the  city  during  two  years  can  become  a  member  by  paying  a 
weekly  contribution  of  25  pfennigs.  He  thus  acquires  a  "right 


INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT  599 


to  work "  in  case  he  is  unemployed  during  the  period  from 
December  15  to  March  15.  If  work  cannot  be  found  for  him, 
he  is  entitled  during  the  first  twenty  days  of  unemployment 
to  a  benefit  of  2  marks  if  he  is  married,  or  i\  marks  if  un- 
married. A  large  guarantee  fund  has  been  created  through 
gifts  and  the  contributions  of  honorary  members.  In  addition, 
the  city  itself  has  granted  a  subsidy  of  several  thousand  dollars 
as  an  encouragement  to  workingmen  to  become  members.  At 
Bologna  a  voluntary  unemployment-insurance  institution  has 
been  created  which  affects  only  employees  in  building  trades. 
Members  must  pay  an  annual  contribution  of  3.30  francs  if 
they  are  under  twenty  years  of  age,  or  5  francs  if  over  that 
age.  The  out-of-work  benefits  are  60  centimes  a  day  for  mem- 
bers of  the  first  class  and  I  franc  for  members  of  the  second 
class  during  a  maximum  of  forty  days  commencing  with  the 
sixth  day  of  unemployment. 

The  experiments  that  have  been  made  in  Switzerland  and 
elsewhere,  while  they  are  not  sufficiently  extensive  to  furnish 
conclusive  evidence  regarding  the  practicability  of  insurance 
against  unemployment,  are  fully  adequate  to  bring  out  the  chief 
considerations  that  must  be  taken  into  account  in  any  attempt 
to  organize  such  a  system. 

An  examination  of  the  nature  of  the  problem  of  unemploy- 
ment shows  that  insurance  principles  are  ill  suited  for  its  solu- 
tion. Insurance  presupposes  that  the  risk  involved  shall  possess 
two  characteristics,  —  it  must  be  well  defined,  and  it  must  be 
the  consequence  of  a  chance  that  can  be  estimated  with  some 
degree  of  certainty.  The  risk  of  unemployment  conforms  to 
neither  of  these  conditions.  It  is  not  well  defined,  since  there 
is  no  fixed  criterion  as  to  what  work  the  unemployed  should  be 
required  to  accept  It  does  not  depend  upon  calculable  chance, 
because  the  personal  element  involved  in  seeking  and  retaining 
work,  to  say  nothing  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  employers'  action, 
enters  so  largely. ;  Though  lack  of  employment  is  often  unavoid- 
able on  the  part  of  the  workingman,  the  latter' s  will  and  energy 
play  such  an  important  part  in  the  matter  that  any  attempt  to 


600         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

distinguish  unavoidable  idleness  is  futile.  Insurance  concerns 
itself  with  a  risk  that  can  be  calculated  and  provided  for  in 
advance;  but  this  cannot  be  done  in  regard  to  lack  of  employ- 
ment. The  study  of  the  various  systems  that  has  just  been 
made  shows  that,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  term  insurance 
has  been  employed,  the  attempt  has  not  really  been  made  to 
create  insurance  systems.  In  no  case  has  the  attempt  been 
made  to  calculate  risks  and  to  adjust  contributions  accordingly, 
or  indeed  to  make  the  system  self-supporting.  Only  nominal  con- 
tributions have  been  required  from  members,  while  the  great 
burden  of  expense  has  been  borne  by  the  government  and  by 
voluntary  contributors.  In  reality,  therefore,  it  is  scarcely  proper 
to  speak  of  these  institutions  as  insurance  organizations.  What 
has  been  created  is  really  a  more  methodical  system  of  granting 
relief  to  the  unemployed. 

Turning  now  to  the  actual  organization  of  the  Swiss  systems, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  radical  mistake  was  the  failure  to  recog- 
nize the  essentially  different  conditions  obtaining  in  different 
industries.  The  problem  of  lack  of  employment  in  the  factory 
trades,  for  example,  is  quite  different  from  that  in  the  building 
trades  or  among  ordinary  day  laborers.  It  may  be  confidently 
stated  that  any  attempt  to  introduce  even  a  modified  form  of 
insurance  against  unemployment  should  follow  strictly  trade 
lines.  In  this  respect  the  Basel  proposition  shows  a  marked 
advance  over  the  other  systems. 

This,  however,  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  out-of- 
work  benefit  features  of  labor  organizations.  If  unemployment 
insurance  should  follow  trade  lines,  every  argument  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  such  efforts  should  be  made  through  existing 
organizations  of  workingmen.  The  great  work  done  by  these 
organizations  in  the  way  of  aiding  their  members  is  well  known. 
For  example,  the  chief  labor  correspondent  of  the  British  Board 
of  Trade  stated,  in  his  report  on  trade  unions  for  1895,  that 
one  hundred  of  the  principal  unions  expended  during  the  year 
$2,121,775  in  relief  of  the  unemployed.  In  the  United  States 
a  large  part  of  the  expenditures  of  the  trade  unions  likewise  go 
for  this  purpose,  though  it  is  not  possible  to  make  any  exact 


INSURANCE  AGAINST  UNEMPLOYMENT  6oi 

statement  of  the  amount.1  This  method  of  granting  relief  pos- 
sesses manifest  advantages  over  the  use  of  a  municipal  organ- 
ization. The  work  of  unions  is  not  charity  but  the  highest  order 
of  mutual  aid.  Labor  unions,  moreover,  are  in  a  peculiarly 
favorable  position  to  assist  their  members  in  obtaining  work, 
and  are  able  to  guard  themselves  against  imposition.  Finally, 
as  we  have  seen,  unemployment  is  not  a  condition  beyond  the 
control  of  individuals,  and  does  not  happen  with  a  regularity 
that  can  be  calculated.  Insurance  proper  affords  little  room  for 
discretion  in  granting  relief,  while  each  case  of  unemployment 
should  be  considered  upon  its  particular  merits.  Labor  organ- 
izations can  exercise  this  necessary  discretion  in  a  way  that  is 
utterly  beyond  the  power  of  a  municipal  institution. 

The  logical  conclusion  is  that  in  America,  at  least,  provision 
against  lack  of  employment  can  best  be  made  for  the  estab- 
lished trades  by  the  men  themselves  through  their  organizations; 
and  that  this  provision  cannot  be  made  according  to  hard  and 
fast  insurance  principles,  but  must  allow  for  a  certain  elasticity 
or  discretion  in  the  granting  of  relief,  according  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  each  case  and  the  amount  of  funds  available 
for  this  purpose. 

Though  the  Swiss  systems  must  be  regarded  as  faulty  in 
lacking  the  character  of  true  insurance,  it  is  not  desired  to  give 
the  impression  that  such  municipal  institutions  cannot  be  made 
to  serve  a  useful  purpose.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  involved 
in  their  organization  principles  which  when  properly  applied 
can  be  of  great  assistance  in  solving  the  problem  of  unemploy- 
ment. They  may  not  provide  scientific  insurance,  but  they 
constitute  a  vast  improvement  over  the  old  methods  of  indis- 
criminate and  uncertain  relief.  They  require  employees  to 
register  and  to  make  some  personal  sacrifice  in  order  to  be 
entitled  to  relief;  they  insure  that  relief  shall  be  granted  only 
to  bona  fide  residents  of  the  city ;  and  they  bring  the  unem- 
ployed under  the  supervision  of  the  public  authorities.  This 
last  feature  greatly  facilitates  finding  work  for  idle  men  either 

1  See  Chapter  XXIV,  p.  527,  The  Benefit  System  of  the  Cigar  Makers' 
Union. 


602         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

through  a  public  employment  bureau  or  in  the  immediate  serv- 
ice of  the  government.  To  accomplish  their  work  in  the  best 
way,  however,  the  municipal  institutions  should  cease  to  lay 
emphasis  upon  the  idea  of  insurance.  The  principle  of  registra- 
tion, accompanied  by  the  requirement  of  small  monthly  contri- 
butions, is  the  really  valuable  feature  of  their  work.  They 
should  seek  chiefly  to  reach  those  classes  which  do  not  possess 
labor  organizations.  Finally,  they  should  make  assistance  to 
the  unemployed  in  rinding  work  the  most  important  part  of 
their  duties.  Only  after  they  have  failed  in  this  effort  should 
they  grant  pecuniary  relief. 

WILLIAM  FRANKLIN  WILLOUGHBY. 


XXVIII 

PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES  AND  GERMANY1 

I.  UNITED  STATES 

.  .  .  From  the  recentness  of  the  movement  for  the  establish- 
ment of  these  offices  it  is  evident  that  other  attempts  must  have 
been  made  to  secure  the  registration  of  the  unemployed  and 
the  equilibration  of  the  labor  market.  The  most  important  of 
these  agencies  in  the  United  States  are  the  private  intelligence 
offices ;  and  it  is  to  a  consideration  of  these  that  we  must, 
therefore,  first  address  ourselves  before  we  can  fully  understand 
either  the  need  of  or  the  demand  for  offices  conducted  under 
the  control  of  the  state. 

Private  employment  agencies  exist  in  almost  every  city  of 
the  Union,  but  no  systematic  canvass  has  ever  been  attempted 
to  ascertain  their  number  or  the  extent  of  their  business.  How- 
ever, from  some  scattered  data  in  the  reports  of  several  of  the 
state  bureaus  of  labor  statistics,  it  has  been  possible  to  compile 
a  few  figures  which  are  of  interest,  and  may  be  considered  typ- 
ical of  all.  These  show  the  number  of  private  agencies  in  a  few 
cities,  the  number  of  applicants,  and  the  estimated  receipts; 
but  none  of  these  statistics  can  be  considered  accurate,  many 
of  the  returns  being  confessedly  only  estimates.  In  Boston 
there  were  119  private  employment  agencies  in  1893,  and 
reports  from  87  of  th:m  showed  600,934  applicants  for  employ- 
ment, of  whom  128,912,  or  21.45  Per  cent,  secured  positions. 
At  the  minimum  charge  of  50  cents  apiece,  this  would  yield 

1  From  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  XIX,  1900,  pp.  341-377.  See 
also  Kellor,  Out  of  Work,  1904. 

603 


604         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 

the  offices  over  $300,000  a  year.1  Commissioner  Hall  gives 
figures  for  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  which,  he  thinks,  repre- 
sent about  40  per  cent  of  the  business  done  in  these  two  cities. 
In  St.  Louis  there  were  6032  applications  for  employment  in 
seven  women's  agencies,  and  5626  positions  secured.  The 
admitted  receipts,  which  Mr.  Hall  thinks  about  half  of  what 
was  in  fact  received,  were  $3198.  Six  other  agencies  found 
work  for  20,800  out  of  106,600  applicants.  Their  receipts  are 
estimated  at  $100,000.  The  Kansas  City  agencies  were  only  a 
little  behind  this,  as  the  following  figures  show : 


Number  of  Agencies 

Number  of  Applications 

Positions  Filled 

Receipts  from  Fees 

8  (for  men)       .     . 
4  (for  women)  .     . 

64,740 
22,711 

43.672 
3,835 

£64.464 
6,103 

Commissioner  Hall  estimates  that  the  $70,567  admitted 
receipts  were  less  than  one  half  the  amount  actually  taken  in.2 

There  were  119  licensed  agencies  in  Chicago  in  1896,  at 
which  it  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  1,000,000  persons 
applied  for  employment  during  the  year.  At  the  minimum 
charge  of  $i  apiece,  this  would  give  an  annual  income  of 
$i,ooo,ooo.3  In  California  69  well-equipped  private  employ- 
ment agencies  are  reported  to  exist,  whose  cost  of  maintenance 
alone  is  estimated  at  $206,700  a  year.4  Twenty-one  private 
agencies  are  reported  from  Colorado,  most  of  them  being 
situated  in  Denver. 

Inadequate  as  these  figures  are,  they  yet  serve  in  some  degree 
to  show  the  extent  of  the  business  done  by  the  employment 
agencies  of  the  country,  and  to  give  an  idea  of  the  vast  sums  that 
are  paid  annually  by  the  unemployed  for  the  purpose  of  securing 

1  Twenty-Fourth  Annual  Report  of  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor, 
1893,  p.  in. 

2  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  and  Inspection 
of  Missouri,  1892. 

8  Tenth  Biennial  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Illinois,  1898, 

P-  '33- 

4  Seventh  Biennial  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  California, 
1895-1896,  p.  52. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  605 

employment.  That  these  agencies  meet  a  real  want  seems  not 
open  to  doubt.  But  the  further  question  as  to  how  well  they 
fill  it  and  with  what  advantage  to  the  unemployed  is  not  so  cer- 
tainly to  be  answered  in  their  favor.  In  fact,  one  of  the  strongest 
arguments  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  free  public  employ- 
ment offices  rests  on  the  abuses  which  exist  in  the  private 
agencies.  This  point  is  made  much  of  by  the  commissioners 
of  labor  in  the  various  states,  and  their  reports  contain  many 
instances  of  the  deception  and  fraud  practiced  by  these  agen- 
cies on  the  unemployed.  While  they  are  naturally  interested 
in  making  out  as  strong  a  case  as  possible  against  the  "  pay  " 
agencies,  and  though  a  large  number  of  these  are  of  the  highest 
possible  character,  there  is  still  without  doubt  a  large  class 
which  merely  preys,  on  the  unemployed  and  takes  advantage  of 
their  need. 

The  least  of  the  abuses  which  are  perpetrated  is  the  uni- 
versal practice  of  accepting  a  fee,  whether  there  is  prospect  of 
finding  a  position  or  not,  and  of  refusing  to  refund  it  when  a 
position  is  not  secured.1  No  pay  agency  will  ever  admit  that 
the  labor  market  is  overstocked.2  Worse  than  this  is  the  prac- 
tice of  advertising  for  laborers  to  undertake  work  in  distant 
cities  and  of  sending  them  to  fill  purely  fictitious  openings  after 
accepting  their  fees.3  In  the  case  of  some  of  the  more  dishon- 
est agencies  there  is  an  agreement  between  the  foreman  and 
an  agency,  according  to  which  men  sent  by  the  agency  are 
employed,  but  only  for  a  few  days,  and  then  discharged  to 
make  way  for  others.  The  fees  are  divided  between  the  agent 
and  the  foreman.4  An  additional  refinement,  which  is  reported 
from  New  York,  consists  in  an  illicit  connection  of  employment 
agencies  with  alleged  employers,  who  refer  an  applicant  to  a 
guarantee  agency,  which  is  also  in  the  league,  and  which  exacts 
another  fee  for  looking  up  the  references.5  It  is  a  not  uncommon 

1  The  laws  of  a  number  of  states  require  that  the  fee  be  refunded  if  employ- 
ment is  not  secured. 

2  "  Fraudulent  Advertisement  of  Lucrative  Employment,"  by  P.  G.  Hubert,  Jr., 
Lippincotfs  Magazine,  Vol.  LIV,  p.  657. 

8  Illinois  Report,  1898,  p.  133.  4  California  Report,  1896,  p.  56. 

5  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  December,  1899,  p.  155. 


606         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

plan  to  have  the  employment  agency  located  in  the  rear  of  a 
dram  shop,  which  the  men,  who  are  purposely  kept  waiting  in 
the  hope  of  securing  a  position,  will  unfailingly  patronize. 

Many  of  the  abuses  here  complained  of  are  largely  the  result 
of  inadequate  supervision  and  control  of  the  agencies  in  their 
dealings  with  an  ignorant  and  needy  class  of  persons,  easily 
victimized  and  slow  to  seek  redress.  To  regulate  these  evils  of 
the  private  employment  offices,  a  few  of  the  states  have,  there- 
fore, required  them  to  pay  licenses  or  give  bonds,  or  do  both. 
Colorado,  Illinois,  Maine,  Minnesota,  Pennsylvania,  and  Wash- 
ington compel  all  employment  offices  to  pay  an  annual  license 
fee,  ranging  from  $i  in  Maine  to  $200  in  Illinois.  In  Louisiana 
and  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  a  license  must  be 
obtained  in  order  to  do  business  ;  but  no  payment  is  required.1 
Five  of  the  states  —  Colorado,  Illinois,  Louisiana,  Minnesota, 
and  Wisconsin  —  place  the  managers  of  all  private  agencies 
under  heavy  bonds ;  and  all  of  the  states  named  also  provide 
penalties  for  infringement  of  the  law.  Most  of  them,  too,  regu- 
late the  charges  which  the  agencies  can  make,  providing  that 
no  fee  shall  be  charged  unless  a  bona  fide  position  is  secured  for 
the  applicant. 

Free  employment  agencies,  as  private  or  quasi  public  institu- 
tions, already  exist  in  large  numbers  throughout  the  United 
States,  especially  in  the  large  cities.  Many  of  the  charity- 
organization  societies  maintain  employment  bureaus  inciden- 
tal to  their  work  of  relief,  and  sometimes,  as  in  Minneapolis, 
Brooklyn,  and  Baltimore,  independently  thereof.  In  the  two 
last-named  cities  this  work  grew  to  such  proportions  as  to 
threaten  to  overshadow  the  more  legitimate  work  of  the  society, 
and  was  therefore  suspended,  except  for  destitute  cases.2  Many 
churches  have  employment  features,  as  do  also  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,3 

1  A  bill  of  this  sort  is  now  before  the  New  York  legislature  (Assembly  Bill, 
No.  361,  January  22,  1900). 

2  Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  Toronto, 
1897,  p.  211. 

8  E.g.  the  Y.W.C.A.  and  Women's  Exchange  of  St.  Louis.  Missouri  Report, 
1892. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  607 

and  social  settlements.1  The  Salvation  Army  has  paid  much 
attention  to  this  phase  of  its  many-sided  work,  more  so  in 
England  than  in  this  country.  Most  of  the  trade  unions  have 
this  feature  more  or  less  developed,  restricted  usually,  how- 
ever, to  the  trades  interested.  In  Chicago  at  least  two  depart- 
ment stores  have  conducted  employment  bureaus,  free  to  their 
customers,  for  female  domestic  servants.  In  Boston  there  are 
fourteen  free  employment  bureaus  connected  with  religious, 
philanthropic,  medical,  and  other  institutions.2  In  New  York  3 
among  many  are  the  Bible  House,  the  Working  Girls'  Alli- 
ance, St.  Bartholomew's  Guild,4  and  the  Cooper  Union  Labor 
Bureau,  conducted  since  1895  by  the  New  York  Association 
for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor.  Perhaps  the  assist- 
ance given  the  unemployed  by  many  newspapers  through  the 
free  insertion  of  want  advertisements  should  be  mentioned, 
since  this  method  of  seeking  work  often  takes  the  place  of  a 
resort  to  the  employment  office. 

Numerous  as  the  free  private  or  philanthropic  agencies  were 
in  the  United  States,  the  stigma  of  charity  attached  to  their 
work;  and  the  best  class  of  employees  were  not  to  be  found  on 
their  lists.  To  meet  this  objection  and  at  the  same  time  secure 
their  advantages,  the  next  step  was  accordingly  the  establish- 
ment of  free  public  employment  offices ;  and  to  a  consideration 
of  these  we  may  now  turn. 

Ohio  5  was  the  first  and  for  a  long  time  the  only  state  to 
maintain  free  public  employment  agencies.  The  act  establish- 
ing them  was  passed  April  28,  1890,  and  was  amended  the 

1  E.g.  Hull  House  at  one  time  did  so.    Illinois  Report,  1898,  p.  135. 

2  Massachusetts  Report,  1893,  PP-  81-114. 

8  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  New  York, 
1896,  p.  923. 

4  Year  Book,  1899,  p.  295. 

6  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Ohio,  1890-1899. 

The  movement  in  Ohio  was  due  directly  to  the  example  of  France.  Mr. 
A.  W.  J.  Lewis,  later  commissioner  in  charge  of  the  Ohio  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  was  one  of  a  group  of  labor  representatives  who  attended  the  Paris 
Exposition  of  1889;  anc^  what  he  there  saw  of  the  great  public  offices  led  him 
to  advocate  their  establishment  in  his  state.  See  the  Report  of  the  Minnesota 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1891-1892. 


608        TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

following  year,  March  24,  1891.  It  created  five  free  employ- 
ment offices  as  adjuncts  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and 
placed  the  appointment  of  the  superintendents  and  clerks  of 
the  offices  in  the  hands  of  the  labor  commissioner.  The  sala- 
ries of  the  officers  were  to  be  borne  by  the  cities  within  which 
the  offices  were  organized,  but  the  general  expenses  were  to  be 
defrayed  by  the  state.  Each  superintendent  should  make  a 
weekly  report  to  the  commissioner,  and  lists  of  applications  in 
each  office  should  be  sent  weekly  to  every  other  office  and  there 
posted.  The  amendment  of  1891  limited  the  tenure  of  office 
for  all  superintendents  and  clerks  to  two  years.  Since  that 
time  no  further  change  in  the  law  has  been  made. 

Offices  were  opened  during  the  summer  of  1890  in  the  five 
leading  cities  of  the  state,  —  Toledo,  Cleveland,  Dayton,  Cin- 
cinnati, and  Columbus.  The  success  of  these  offices  was  marked 
from  the  start.  For  the  first  six  months  the  applications  for 
employment  amounted  to  over  20,000,  for  nearly  half  of  whom 
positions  were  secured.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  testimonial 
to  their  success  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that,  while  there  were 
at  least  twelve  well-known  private  employment  agencies  in  these 
cities  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  public  offices,  the 
commissioner  of  labor  reported  in  1892  that  they  no  longer 
existed  in  Columbus,  Toledo,  and  Dayton,  while  only  a  few 
"still  managed  to  exist"  in  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati.  The 
facilities  of  the  offices  seem  to  have  been  made  very  general  use 
of  by  employers,  the  applications  for  help  sometimes  outnum- 
bering the  applications  for  employment,  especially  in  domestic 
service.  The  superintendents  of  the  offices,  reporting  on  this 
point  in  1891,  stated  that  employers  generally  favored  the 
establishment  of  the  offices,  and  that  the  working  people  were 
unanimous  in  their  approval.  Two  of  the  superintendents, 
however,  reported  that  manufacturers  denied  any  need  of  such 
a  bureau,  since  so  many  applications  for  employment  were  made 
directly  at  the  factories.  While  this  is  true  in  general  of  skilled 
labor,  it  is,  of  course,  less  true  of  unskilled  labor,  and  not  at  all 
the  case  with  domestic  and  personal  help.  The  activities  of  the 
offices  are,  therefore,  particularly  marked  in  the  latter  field. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES 


609 


The  reports  of  the  offices  show  a  fairly  steady  growth  from 
year  to  year  in  spite  of  the  depression  of  1893,  and  give  evi- 
dence that  the  bureaus  are  filling  a  real  want.  While  the  num- 
ber of  applications  for  employment  on  the  part  of  men  has  not 
changed  materially,  the  applications  for  male  employees  and  the 
number  of  positions  filled  has  steadily  decreased.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  number  of  women  dealt  with,  especially  domestic 
servants,  has  grown  continuously,  seeming  to  indicate  that  the 
bureaus  are  becoming  more  or  less  "  intelligence  "  offices  of  the 
familiar  type  for  the  registration  of  servants.  There  seems  to 
be  no  desire  in  the  state  to  abolish  the  offices,  but  the  annual 
reports  of  the  labor  commissioner  reiterate  the  demand  for  cer- 
tain changes  in  the  law  which  shall  place  them  on  a  firmer 
basis.  Objection  is  made  to  the  provision  which  places  the 
payment  of  the  salaries  of  the  superintendents  and  clerks  upon 
the  cities  within  which  the  bureaus  are  situated,  partly  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  at  the  mercy  of  municipal  politicians.1  ... 

The  third  state  in  the  Union  to  create  free  public  employ- 
ment offices  by  law  was  New  York2  by  the  act  of  May  25, 
1896,  which  provided  for  the  establishment  of  such  offices  in 
New  York  City  and  Buffalo.  Owing  to  the  crude  provisions 
of  this  measure,  which  required  among  other  things  the  send- 
ing of  a  weekly  list  of  all  applicants  for  employment  or  help  to 
each  of  the  1168  supervisors  of  townships  in  the  state,  it  was 
repealed  in  the  following  year,  and  replaced  by  the  substitute 
act  of  May  13,  1897. 

1  Returns  of  five  Ohio  offices  for  selected  years  : 


1890 

1893 

1896 

1899 

Male 

Female 

Male 

Female 

Male 

Female 

Ma.le 

Female 

Applications   for   employ- 
ment        
Applications  for  help  . 
Positions  secured  . 

14,529 
",  453 
5,575 

5,607 
6,701 
3,4i3 

14,169 
5,826 
4,566 

12,685 
",403 
8,635 

12,668 
3,078 
2,781 

15,030 
12,632 
10,164 

15,259 
6,216 
5,058 

10,886 
17,681 
9,93i 

2  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  New  York,  1896-1898  ;  and 
Bulletin  of  the  Bureau,  September  and  December,  1899. 


6 10         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 


This  act  of  1897  provided  for  the  establishment  of  free 
public  employment  bureaus  in  cities  of  the  first  class,  namely, 
New  York  and  Buffalo.  .  .  .  An  annual  appropriation  of  $5000 
was  made  for  the  New  York  office ;  and  the  appointment  of 
superintendent  and  clerks  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
commissioner  of  labor,  under  civil-service  regulations.  All 
applicants  are  required  to  fill  out  statistical  blanks,  giving 
information  as  to  age,  nationality,  occupation,  wages,  cause  of 
idleness,  references,  and  so  forth.  In  addition  a  confidential 
letter  of  inquiry  is  sent  to  the  last  employer  of  every  applicant 
for  employment,  requesting  testimony  as  to  character  and 
ability,  the  response  being  filed  with  the  application.  These 
letters  are  answered  very  generally  and  apparently  truthfully. 
Not  only  are  the  interests  of  the  employers  thus  safeguarded, 
but  those  of  the  employees  also  by  requiring,  in  cases  where 
help  is  wanted  out  of  town,  that  the  railroad  fare  shall  be  paid 
to  the  destination,  and  that  the  employer  shall  meet  the 
employee  at  the  end  of  the  journey. 

The  statistical  information  gathered  on  the  blanks  which 
are  filled  out  in  the  office  is  tabulated  and  published  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor.1  The  statistics  of  the 
number  of  applicants  show  a  decrease  after  the  first  few 
months.  This  was  largely  due  to  the  exaggerated  expectations 
that  were  entertained  at  the  time  the  office  was  opened  as  to 

1The  work  of  the  New  York  office  from  its  establishment  on  July  20,  1896,  to 
January  I,  1900,  is  shown  in  the  following  table : 


1896 

1897 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Applications  for  employment  

6458 

1582 
616 

8040 
948 

3966 
418 

33'9 
1624 

73iS 
2052 

Situations  secured  

444 

378 

1:27 

1505 

1898 

1899 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Applications  for  employment  

2487 

2613 
2344 

5100 
2646 

5280 
3043 

Situations  secured   

2000 

2401 

PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  6ll 

its  ability  to  obtain  work  for  all  applicants.  Since  then  the 
number  of  applications  has  decreased,  while  the  number  of 
positions  secured  has  increased.  In  one  occupation  the  demand 
has  continually  outrun  the  supply,  — domestic  service,  and  more 
particularly  general  housework.  The  activities  of  the  bureau 
are  now  confined  almost  exclusively  to  this  department.  .  .  . 

The  fifth  state  to  establish  free  public  employment  agen- 
cies by  law  was  Illinois,  which  provided  for  their  creation 
in  all  cities  of  fifty  thousand  population  or  over  by  an  act 
approved  April  1 1,  1899.  Three  offices  were  accordingly  opened 
in  Chicago  on  July  31, — one  on  the  North  side,  one  on  the 
South  side,  and  the  third  on  the  West  side  of  the  city.  The 
law  provides  for  the  appointment  for  two  years  of  a  man  super- 
intendent at  a  salary  of  $1200  and  of  a  woman  assistant  at  not 
more  than  $900  per  annum.  All  expenses  of  the  office  are  to 
be  defrayed  by  the  state.  Weekly  lists  showing  the  number 
and  character  of  all  applicants  for  positions  and  for  help  are 
to  be  sent  by  each  office  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and 
a  complete  list  to  be  mailed  weekly  from  that  bureau  to  each 
free  employment  office,  to  each  state  inspector  of  factories,  and 
to  each  state  inspector  of  mines.  And  it  is  made  the  duty  of 
these  officials  to  assist  in  securing  employment  for  such  appli- 
cants, and  to  notify  the  superintendents  of  the  employment 
offices  of  all  vacancies  that  come  to  their  notice.  Superintend- 
ents of  the  free  offices  are,  furthermore,  empowered  to  spend  not 
more  than  $400  a  year  in  advertising  for  positions.  The  Illinois 
law  further  contains  a  strike  clause,  which,  as  it  does  not  appear 
in  the  laws  of  any  other  state,  deserves  to  be  quoted  in  full.1 

The  provisions  for  the  collection  of  statistical  data  and  for 
registration  of  applicants  are  more  elaborate  than  in  any  other 
office.  Every  applicant  for  employment  must  answer  a  list 

1  "  In  no  case  shall  the  superintendent  of  any  free  employment  office  created 
by  this  act  furnish  or  cause  to  be  furnished  workmen  or  other  employees  to  any 
applicant  for  help  whose  employees  are  at  that  time  on  strike  or  locked  out ;  nor 
shall  any  list  of  names  and  addresses  of  applicants  for  employment  be  shown  to 
any  employer  whose  employees  are  on  strike  or  locked  out ;  nor  shall  such  list 
be  exposed  where  it  can  be  copied  or  used  by  an  employer  whose  employees  are 
on  strike  or  locked  out."  —  Labor  Laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  1899,  p.  23,  §  8. 


612         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

of  some  thirty  questions  as  to  age,  sex,  nationality,  conjugal 
condition,  religion,  length  of  residence,  number  of  children, 
literacy,  occupation,  affiliations,  cause  of  idleness,  wages,  health, 
references.  Applicants  for  help  are  permitted  to  fill  out  a  less 
formidable  list.  As  in  New  York,  and  in  identically  the  terms 
used  there,  a  confidential  letter  is  sent  in  each  case  to  the  last 
employer  of  every  applicant  for  employment,  requesting  infor- 
mation as  to  character,  sobriety,  and  obedience.  When  a  call  for 
help  is  made  at  the  office  a  suitable  applicant  is  at  once  notified 
of  the  position  by  a  reply  postal  and  is  requested  to  use  the 
return  card  to  inform  the  office  whether  employment  is  secured. 
At  the  same  time  a  note  is  sent  to  the  prospective  employer, 
notifying  him  who  has  been  sent  and  inclosing  a  postal  card 
to  be  used  in  notifying  the  office  on  his  part  whether  he  has 
engaged  the  applicant  sent  him.  In  this  way  the  closest  possible 
control  is  maintained. 

In  the  city  of  Seattle,  Washington,1  there  was  established 
in  April,  1894,  a  municipal  free  employment  bureau,  the  only 
one  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  Originally  created  as 
an  adjunct  to  the  municipal  office  of  labor  statistics,  it  was 
later  made  a  part  of  the  civil  service  department  of  the  city 
on  the  adoption  of  a  new  city  charter  in  the  spring  of  1895. 
The  secretary  of  the  civil  service  commission  assumed  the 
office  of  labor  commissioner  and  has  devoted  a  part  of  his 
time  to  the  conduct  of  the  employment  bureau.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  bureau  has  been  marked ;  the  increasing  demands 
made  upon  it  necessitated  the  appointment  in  1897  of  an 
assistant,  a  woman,  who  has  charge  of  the  women's  depart- 
ment, and  in  the  following  year  the  appointment  of  an 
additional  clerk.  The  expansion  of  the  work  has  also  neces- 
sitated two  removals  of  the  office,  each  time  to  more  commo- 
dious quarters. 

The  conditions  of  the  labor  market  in  Washington  seemed 
to  require  the  establishment  of  an  employment  bureau  which 
should  cover  the  whole  field  more  completely  than  was  possible 

1  Annual  Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  Seattle,  Washington, 
1894-1899. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  613 

for  the  private  employment  agencies.  Situated  as  it  is,  Seattle 
is  the  outlet  of  streams  of  transient  laborers  on  the  way  to 
Alaska  and  other  points  in  the  Northwest.  Many  of  the  indus- 
tries, too,  which  are  carried  on  in  the  state  are  of  a  seasonal 
and  variable  character,  such  as  hop  picking,  fishing,  logging,  and 
railroad  work,  calling  for  constant  readjustment  and  redistribu- 
tion of  the  labor  force.  This  fact  is  very  clearly  seen  in  the 
statistics  of  the  work  done  by  the  bureau,  in  which  I  have 
separated  the  hop  pickers  and  railroad  laborers  from  the  other 
applicants.  Of  course,  this  extension  of  the  business  of  the 
bureau  would  not  have  been  possible  without  the  cooperation 
of  the  employers  of  labor ;  and  in  this  regard  Commissioner 
Grout  seems  to  have  been  particularly  successful,  as  practically 
all  labor  for  the  railroads  and  the  hop  fields  in  the  state  is 
obtained  through  the  agency  of  the  municipal  office. 

In  the  administration  of  the  bureau  the  commissioner  has 
sacrificed  the  statistical  part  of  the  work,  with  the  accompani- 
ments of  detailed  registration,  to  the  more  practical  end  of 
securing  speedy  employment  of  all  applicants.  Accordingly, 
no  figures  are  given  of  the  number  of  applications  for  positions 
or  for  help,  but  only  of  positions  filled.  The  number  of  per- 
sons for  whom  work  has  been  secured,  even  after  eliminating 
the  most  fluctuating  elements,  shows  a  very  steady  growth. 
Although  a  municipal  office,  its  usefulness  is  not  limited  to  the 
city,  applications  for  labor  having  been  received  from  almost 
every  town  in  the  state,  and  from  Alaska,  British  Columbia, 
Oregon,  Montana,  and  Idaho.  An  analysis  of  the  positions  filled 
during  1898  showed  that  about  63  per  cent  were  of  "common, 
unskilled  labor,"  30  per  cent  "vocations  requiring  some  knowl- 
edge or  skill,"  while  only  about  7  per  cent  represented  skilled 
trades.1  This  last  figure  was  doubled  the  following  year,  but 
the  work  of  the  bureau  has  been  largely  confined  to  the  class 
of  unskilled  labor.  About  nine  tenths  of  these  positions  are 
out  of  the  city.  Private  employment  agencies  seem  to  have 
been  largely  displaced  by  the  municipal  bureau ;  and  the  num- 
ber of  these,  though  fluctuating,  was  reduced  to  seven  at  the 

1  Fifth  Annual  Report,  1898. 


6 14         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

end  of  1899.     All  private  agencies  are  required  to  secure  a 
license  from  the  city  and  pay  an  annual  fee  of  ^loo.1  .  .  . 

The  account  thus  far  given  of  free  public  employment  offices 
in  the  United  States,  taken  largely  from  the  reports  of  the 
offices  themselves,  has  not  been  a  very  encouraging  one.  Not 
even  the  most  ardent  advocate  of  their  extension  would  con- 
tend that  they  have  been  attended  with  striking  success.  Of 
the  nine  states  in  which  their  establishment  has  been  attempted, 
they  have  been  given  up  in  three,  —  Montana,  Iowa,  and  Cali- 
fornia,—  while  in  Nebraska  the  office  is  struggling  along  with 
very  unsatisfactory  results.  In  these  cases  the  establishment 
of  the  bureaus  seems  to  have  been  premature  and  not  called 
for  by  the  needs  of  the  community  (except  perhaps  in  Cali- 
fornia), but  to  have  been  advocated  or  created  by  the  politicians 
as  a  sop  to  the  laboring  classes.2  In  only  five  states  —  namely, 
Ohio,  New  York,  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Washington  — is  there 
such  an  increase  in  the  number  of  applications  and  positions 
secured  as  to  indicate  a  steady  growth  in  usefulness.  The 
municipal  office  at  Seattle  appears  to  have  met  with  success  a 
real  want  in  the  community  where  it  is  located,  and  to  have 
enlisted  most  fully  the  cooperation  of  both  employers  and 
employees.  But  one  of  the  main  elements  in  its  success  is  the 

1  The  following  figures  show  the  work  done  by  the  bureau  from  April  i,  1894, 
to  January  i,  1900: 

POSITIONS  FURNISHED  IN  SEATTLE 


I8941 

1895 

l896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

Total 

1  268 

!•»  871 

18  i« 

135  * 

2  8oO 

2  682 

Railroad  laborers       .... 

J 

i,3ii8 

57i  3 

2,784 

7,077 

24  l8* 

2,102 
22  8^7 

Total  expenses     
Cost  of  each  position  furnished  . 

$909.65 
$0.2293 

$1120.00 
$0.1938 

$727-5° 
$0.2138 

$724.80 
$0.0624 

$1377.13 
$0.0569 

$!  136.66 
$0.05 

1  Nine  months.  2Not  specified. 

8  General  laborers  included  in  totals  above.     Office  did  not  act  as  agent  for  the  railroads  before 
1897.  *  Almost  total  failure  of  harvest. 


2  The  commissioner  of  the  Montana  bureau,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer,  ascribes 
the  failure  of  the  office  in  that  state  to  the  dislike  of  it  as  a  Populist  measure. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  615 

fact  that  it  has  had  to  deal  largely  with  unskilled  labor.  So 
far,  at  least,  the  offices  have  been  used  very  little  by  members 
of  skilled  or  well-organized  trades ;  and  their  representatives 
seem  to  think  it  doubtful  if  they  ever  will  be.  An  analysis  of 
the  occupations  of  those  applying  for  employment,  particularly 
in  the  large  cities,  shows  that  the  majority  of  the  men  are 
unskilled  laborers  ;  and  another  large  portion  may  properly  be 
classed  under  the  head  of  domestic  or  personal  service,  — 
coachmen,  gardeners,  hostlers,  waiters,  hotel  employees,  and  the 
like.  The  women  are  recruited  almost  entirely  from  this  latter 
class.  The  writer  has  visited  several  of  the  offices,  and  in  every 
case  has  been  forcibly  impressed  by  this  fact.  In  so  far  the 
expectations  of  the  friends  of  the  offices  have  been  disappointed, 
for  they  had  hoped  to  see  them  used  less  by  domestic  servants 
and  more  largely  by  skilled  artisans  and  mechanics. 

The  public  employment  offices  in  this  country  do  not  seem 
to  have  encountered  any  opposition1  due  to  industrial  disputes, 
such  as  has  made  their  success  problematical  in  Germany. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Illinois  law,  which  forbids  the  offices 
furnishing  employees  during  a  strike,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
various  acts  to  regulate  their  administration  under  such  circum- 
stances. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  management  of  the  various 
offices  has  differed  in  this  respect,  even  within  a  single  state.2 
While  the  representatives  of  organized  labor  are,  on  the  whole, 
in  favor  of  the  free  public  employment  offices,  they  are  unani- 
mous in  insisting  that  they  shall  be  held  entirely  neutral  during 
labor  disputes.  In  the  event  of  strikes  they  should  not  be  per- 
mitted to  furnish  men  to  fill  the  place  of  strikers,  and  in  case 
of  disputes  as  to  wages  they  should  not  attempt  to  provide 
employees  at  a  lower  rate  of  wage  than  that  for  which  conten- 
tion is  being  made.  It  was  feared  that  the  insistence  upon 
references  would  militate  against  the  offices  among  the  work- 
ing people  by  introducing  the  hated  "  character  note  " ;  but  so 
far  little  objection  has  been  met  on  that  score.  Yet  one  of  the 

1  Except  in  Grand  Rapids. 

2  Thus  in  Ohio  the  Dayton  office  sends  men  to  fill  the  places  of  strikers.    The 
others  do  not. 


6i6         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

first  essentials  for  the  success  of  such  offices  lies  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  applicants.  Without  such  selection  employers  will 
not  as  a  rule  use  them.  And  thus,  as  to  the  general  outlook  for 
the  free  offices,  the  following  paragraph  from  the  exhaustive 
report  of  the  English  Department  of  Labor  on  "Agencies  and 
Methods  for  dealing  with  the  Unemployed  "  will  apply  equally 
well  to  the  United  States : 

With  the  best  of  conditions,  labor  bureaus  can  hardly  be  expected 
to  become  the  sole  or  principal  means  of  bringing  together  employers 
and  unemployed.  The  bulk  of  the  work  of  hiring  labor  and  seek- 
ing employment  will  in  most  trades  continue  to  be  done  directly 
between  workmen  and  employers,  as  is  the  case  where,  as  in  France, 
the  system  of  bureaus  has  been  carried  much  further  than  in  the 
United  Kingdom.  Nor  as  regards  the  organized  trades  can  labor 
bureaus,  as  a  rule,  compare  in  utility,  so  far  as  workmen  are  con- 
cerned, with  the  work  of  a  well-managed  trade  society.  The  chief 
field  of  usefulness  of  labor  bureaus  is  likely,  therefore,  to  be  found 
for  some  time  to  come  in  the  less  highly  organized  trades. 


II.  GERMANY 

Before  proceeding  to  consider  the  comparatively  recent 
movement  for  establishing  free  public  employment  offices  in 
Germany,  it  will  be  instructive  to  glance  at  various  other 
agencies  which  have  been  resorted  to  there.  These  may  be 
divided  into  at  least  four  groups,  — private  pay  agencies,  phil- 
anthropic employment  offices,  and  agencies  conducted  by  asso- 
ciations of  employers  or  unions  of  workmen. 

In  spite  of  the  rapid  growth  in  number  of  the  free  offices, 
within  the  last  decade  especially,  the  private  employment 
agencies  are  probably  still  in  the  majority;  and  in  certain  occu- 
pations they  exercise  almost  a  monopoly.  They  are  made  use 
of  particularly  for  domestic  servants,  employees  in  mercantile 
establishments,  hotels,  and  restaurants,  farm  laborers,  sailors, 
and  actors.1  Though  evils  are  complained  of  in  connection  with 
these  offices,  they  are  apparently  not  so  great  as  in  the  United 

1  V.  Weigert,  Arbeitsnachweis  und  Schutz  der  Arbeitswilligen,  Berlin,  1899,  p.  2. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  617 

States,  since  all  employment  agencies  are  placed  under  police 
control  by  imperial  law,  and  are  made  to  pay  a  license  fee. 
According  to  a  statistical  investigation  carried  out  in  Prussia 
in  1895,  the  number  of  such  agencies  in  that  kingdom  alone 
was  5216.  During  the  year  1894  these  5000  agencies  had 
received  535,020  applications  for  employment,  481,358  appli- 
cations for  help,  and  had  secured  381,206  positions.1 

Under  philanthropic  employment  offices  we  may  include 
those  conducted  by  religious  societies,  charitable  organizations, 
communal  or  police  officials,  the  lodging  houses  (Herbergen}  of 
various  societies,  the  relief  stations  (Naturalverpflegungssta- 
tioneri),  and  the  like.  Together  these  form  a  perfect  network 
of  agencies  throughout  the  empire  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
work  for  the  unemployed;  but,  inasmuch  as  they  deal  largely 
with  the  shiftless  and  incapable  classes  and  those  who  do  not 
wish  to  secure  situations,  the  statistical  results  of  their  work 
are  not  very  favorable.  Since,  however,  they  are  free  employ- 
ment offices,  no  charge  being  made,  and  are  also  in  large  part 
public  (in  that  they  are  either  connected  with  public  institu- 
tions or  aided  by  public  funds),  it  will  be  advisable  to  consider 
them  briefly. 

Most  of  these  agencies  are  connected  with  the  various  insti- 
tutions established  for  dealing  with  and  suppressing  vagrancy.2 
The  anti-begging  societies  ( Vereine  gegen  Armennot  und  Bet- 
telei),  which  are  organized  in  all  towns  and  cities  throughout 
Germany,  discourage  the  giving  of  alms  and  require  their  mem- 
bers to  refer  all  applicants  to  the  office  of  the  society.  With 
this  an  employment  bureau  is  connected,  and  an  attempt  is 
immediately  made  to  secure  work  for  the  applicant.  The  society 
further  provides  a  relief  station  ( Verpflegungsstatioii},  where  by 
a  few  hours'  work  the  destitute  wayfarer  can  earn  a  ticket 
which  will  entitle  him  to  food  and  lodging  at  the  lodging  house 
(Herberge).  If  no  work  can  be  found  for  him  in  this  locality, 

1  Zeitschrift  des  Koniglichen  Preussischen  Statistischen  Bureaus,  Jahrgang  36, 
1899,  pp.  7-1 1. 

2  Vagrancy  and  Public  Charities  in  Foreign  Countries,  Special  Consular  Report, 
Washington,  1893,  pp.  293,  305,  320,  3*29,  340. 


6l8         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

he  is  next  day  given  a  card  to  the  next  Herberge,  where  he 
must  report  that  afternoon  and  there  in  turn  make  application 
for  work.  If  he  wanders  from  the  route  which  he  has  chosen, 
he  is  liable  to  arrest  as  a  vagrant.  The  anti-begging  societies 
are  supported  entirely  by  private  subscriptions ;  but  practically 
the  same  work  is  done  by  the  public  authorities  in  most  of  the 
German  states  by  the  establishment  of  public  stations  giving 
relief  in  kind  (Naturalverpflegungs -stationeri).  Of  1957  such 
stations  maintained  in  Germany  in  1890,  1707  were  maintained 
by  public  authority,  and  250  by  societies.  Similar  work  is  also 
done  by  the  German  Lodging-House  Society  (Deutscher  Hcr- 
bergsverein),  which  has  established  in  all  the  states  a  number 
of  lodging  houses  for  wayfarers  in  search  of  employment,  the 
institutions  being  maintained  largely  by  provincial  or  local 
societies.  These  various  relief  stations  and  lodging  houses, 
together  with  the  labor  colonies,  have  succeeded  in  legitimatiz- 
ing the  movements  of  a  class  which  without  them  would  become 
mere  vagrants.  They  have,  therefore,  reduced  the  number  of 
arrests  for  vagabondage,1  but  do  not  seem  to  have  contributed 
in  any  permanent  way  towards  solving  the  problem  of  the 
unemployed  by  securing  employment  for  them.  1 

The  establishment  of  employment  offices  has  also  been 
fostered  by  the  various  trade  organizations,  both  those  con- 
ducted by  the  employers  and  those  managed  by  the  laborers. 
While  at  first  their  creation  seems  to  have  been  inspired  only 
by  the  motive  of  adjusting  the  labor  supply  and  demand,  of 
later  years  they  have  been  used  extensively  by  both  sides  as  a 
Kampfmittel  in  the  struggle  between  labor  and  capital.  As 
this  movement  has  led  to  the  establishment  of  offices  by  a 
variety  of  organizations,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  these 
separately. 

i.  Following  the  example  of  the  early  guilds,  the  modern 
Innungen  have  also  endeavored  to  secure  employment  and  help 
within  their  respective  trades  by  undertaking  the  duties  of 
employment  offices.  Though  in  the  main  they  comprise  only  a 

1  In  Prussia  the  number  decreased  from  23,808  in  1882  (no  stations)  to  8605 
in  1890  (951  stations). 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  619 

small  portion  of  the  members  of  the  various  trades,  still  a  few 
of  them,  as  the  barber  guild,  are  of  national  importance.  The 
possibility  of  an  extension  of  this  side  of  their  activity  was 
afforded  them  by  a  provision  in  the  industrial  code  of  July  26, 
iSg/,1  according  to  which  the  establishment  of  employment 
offices  is  expressly  enumerated  among  the  privileges  of  the 
guilds.  It  is  unlikely,  however,  that  they  will  assume  any 
greater  importance  in  the  future,  as  they  are  managed  largely 
in  the  interest  of  the  employers  and  seem  to  be  losing  ground. 
They  have  gained  a  stronger  foothold  in  northern  Germany 
than  in  the  South.  In  Prussia  734  such  employment  offices 
were  reported  for  the  year  1894,  of  which  642  made  no  charge. 
Most  of  the  others  charged  only  a  nominal  fee.  These  offices 
further  reported  for  the  same  year  121,342  applications  for 
employment,  54,614  applications  for  help,  and  47,093  positions 
secured. 

2.  Employers'  organizations  (Gewerbe-  or  Fabrikantenver- 
eine}.  Towards  the  end  of  the  eighties  the  employers  of  labor 
began  to  unite  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  opposing  the  social- 
istically  inclined  laborers'  organizations.  One  of  the  principal 
means  used  by  the  newly  formed  unions  as  well  as  the  older 
ones  was  the  establishment  of  employment  offices,  "which  should 
be  managed  exclusively  by  employers,  and  whose  members 
should  pledge  themselves  to  obtain  labor  only  through  these 
offices."  2  The  alliance  of  master  masons  and  carpenters  and 
the  association  of  metal  workers  were  the  first  larger  organ- 
izations of  employers  to  adopt  this  rule,  as  well  as  the  further 
one  "  to  employ  no  laborer  who  belonged  to  any  social-demo- 
cratic association."  This  attitude,  it  is  needless  to  say,  does 
not  commend  their  employment  offices  to  the  mass  of  laborers, 
nor  indicate  that  they  are  managed  in  an  impartial  manner. 
Such  agencies  have  been  created,  in  addition  to  those  of  the 
metal  workers  and  masons  and  carpenters,  by  the  smiths,  book- 
binders, paper  hangers,  painters,  cabinetmakers,  and  potters. 
They  exist  also  in  the  textile  industries  and  in  the  building 

1  Gewerbeordnung,  §§  81  a,  88,  etc.  Quoted  by  H.  Eckert,  Die  beste  Organisa- 
tion des  Arbeitsnachweises,  p.  6.  2  Weigert,  loc.  cif.,  p.  6. 


620         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

trades.1  Of  such  organizations  some  thirty  conducted  employ- 
ment offices  in  Prussia  in  1894,  of  which  about  half  the  number 
charged  a  fee.  These  offices  reported  34,873  applications  for 
employment,  17,400  applications  for  help,  and  16,910  positions 
secured.  In  addition  to  the  organizations  of  manufacturers,  the 
agrarian  unions  have  in  many  instances  established  employ- 
ment bureaus,  of  which  sixteen  were  reported  in  Prussia.  Dur- 
ing 1894  these  received  3759  applications  for  employment, 
2612  applications  for  help,  and  filled  1629  positions. 

3.  Workingmen's    organizations    (FacJi-  or    Gewerkvereine). 
Since  the  founding  of  the  Hirsch-Duncker  trade  unions,  which 
made  the  employment  feature  an  important  part  of  their  work, 
many  of  the  workingmen's  organizations  have  established  em- 
ployment offices.    As  a  rule,  however,  they  have  not  attained  a 
position  of  importance,  being  necessarily  conducted  at  a  dis- 
advantage, usually  open  in  the  evenings  only,  and  administered 
by  the  secretary  or  other  official  of  the  union  in  connection 
with  other  duties.    Unfortunately,  their  management  has  often 
exposed  them  to  the  same  charges  of  partiality  of  which  the 
workingmen  are  ready  enough  to  accuse  the  employers'  offices. 
Not  infrequently,  too,  the  offices  have  been  used  as  a  weapon 
in  the  struggle  against  the  employing  class,  as  in  the  case  of 
the   Berlin   beer  boycott  of    1896.    This  boycott,   which  had 
assumed  immense  and  ominous  proportions,  was  finally  settled 
by  the  establishment  of  a  joint  employment  office,  conducted 
by  a  joint  committee  of  employers  and  employees.    Of  offices 
managed   by  the  workingmen  alone  there  existed  in  Prussia 
during  1894  about  300,  of  which  only  230  made  reports.    These 
230  offices  received  76,046  applications  for  employment,  32,968 
applications  for  help,  and  secured  positions  for  26,760  persons. 

4.  A  small  number  of  employment  offices  have  been  estab- 
lished which  are  managed  jointly  by  representatives  of   em- 
ployers' and  laborers'  organizations.    They  have  been    called 
into  being  largely  by  the  efforts  of  some  more  liberal-minded 
employers,  who  have  desired  to  avoid  the  unfairness  of  those 
offices    managed   exclusively  by  employers   or  by  employees ; 

1  Richard  Calwer,  Arbeitsmarkt  und  Arbeitsnachweis,  Stuttgart,  1899,  p.  44. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  -  621 

and  they  have  been  fairly  well  received  by  the  laboring  men. 
They  were  opposed,  however,  by  the  Employers'  Conference  at 
Leipsic  in  1898  and  have  not  obtained  any  great  prominence, 
especially  as  the  growth  of  public  bureaus  has  rendered  them 
to  a  large  extent  unnecessary.  They  are  especially  prevalent 
in  mercantile  circles.  In  Prussia  sixty  such  offices  were  reported, 
of  which  number  only  forty-six  made  returns.  During  1894 
these  received  58,584  applications  for  employment,  33,153  ap- 
plications for  help,  and  furnished  23,129  positions.  About 
half  of  these  offices  required  the  payment  of  a  fee,  ranging 
from  $1.25  to  $5. 

Although  many — in  fact,  most  —  of  the  employment  agen- 
cies which  have  already  been  mentioned  are  free  and  are  in 
the  main  open  to  all  applicants,  they  are  not  public  in  the  sense 
of  being  supported  by  public  funds.  The  movement  for  the 
establishment  of  free  public  employment  offices,  either  com- 
munal or  municipal,  has  grown  rapidly  in  the  last  few  years  ; 
and  at  present  such  offices  are  maintained  in  most  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  and  towns  in  Germany.  The  first  such  agency  seems 
to  have  been  established  at  Freiburg  in  May,  1892,  by  the 
joint  action  of  the  organizations  of  employers  and  the  labor 
unions ;  but  it  did  not  come  under  municipal  management  and 
control  until  1897.  The  real  impetus  to  the  movement,  how- 
ever, was  given  in  the  autumn  of  1893  by  a  report  of  the  Stutt- 
gart Trade  Council  (Gewerbegericht),  which  strongly  advocated 
the  establishment  of  a  municipal  employment  bureau  in  that 
city.  Although  the  plan  was  not  carried  out  at  the  time,  it  met 
with  the  warmest  approval  the  following  year  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Social  Congress  at  Frankfort,  where  it  was  advocated 
both  by  workingmen  and  capitalists.  The  plan  suggested 
there  formed  the  basis  of  the  various  municipal  offices  which 
sprang  up  in  rapid  succession  in  all  parts  of  the  empire.  In 
South  Germany,  especially,  the  movement  met  with  success. 
In  Wiirtemberg,  Bavaria,  Hesse,  Baden,  and  Prussia  one  city 
after  another  proceeded  with  the  establishment  of  public  bu- 
reaus. It  is  impossible  to  say  how  many  such  offices  exist  at 
present  in  Germany,  as  no  authoritative  list  has  been  published 


622         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

and  the  number  is  large  and  steadily  growing.  Dr.  Freund, 
superintendent  of  the  Invalid  and  Old  Age  Pension  Office  at 
Berlin,  estimated  the  number  in  1899  at  about  I  14.* 

The  fundamental  principle  of  the  public  offices  is  equal  repre- 
sentation :  employers  and  employees  are  both  represented  in 
the  management  in  equal  proportion  and  with  equal  powers. 
In  general,  the  administration  is  connected  with  the  Trade 
Council  (Gewerbegerichf),  and  a  city  official  is  the  chairman  of 
the  governing  board.  These  offices  are,  of  course,  free  to  all 
applicants  of  any  trade  or  occupation.  The  organization  and 
administration  of  the  Munich  office  —  which  is  admittedly  the 
best  managed  and  which  has  served  as  a  model  for  many  of  the 
others  —  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  general  features  common 
to  them  all.2  The  ultimate  oversight  of  this  office  resides  in 
the  city  magistrate  ;  but  its  immediate  control  rests  in  the 
hands  of  an  elective  board  of  seven,  of  whom  three  are  employ- 
ers and  three  employees,  the  chairman  of  the  Trade  Council 
being  ex  officio  chairman  of  the  board.  The  office  has  a  men's 
division,  where  three  assistants  are  employed,  and  a  women's 
division,  where  there  are  also  three  assistants.  It  receives  appli- 
cations for  every  sort  of  employment,  and  during  the  year  1898 
secured  positions  for  over  32,000  persons.  The  total  expenses 
of  the  office,  which  are  borne  by  the  city  of  Munich,  amounted 
to  only  about  $3650,  of  which  $500  went  for  rent.  The  work 
of  the  office  is  administered  with  typical  German  thoroughness. 
Applicants  for  employment  are  divided  into  classes  according  to 
occupation,  —  thirty-two  classes  for  men  and  ten  for  women,  — 
each  class  having  a,  separate  and  detailed  list.  Every  applicant  is 
required  to  fill  out  a  statistical  blank,  giving  occupation,  name, 
and  so  on,  and  is  given  a  card  with  his  number.  If  a  suitable 
position  is  open,  he  is  sent  immediately,  or  notified  by  post,  to 
go  to  the  prospective  employer,  to  whom  he  hands  a  postal  card 
addressed  to  the  employment  bureau;  this  card  legitimatizes  him 

1  Freund,  Arbeitsnachweise,  Berlin,  1899,  p.  13. 

2  Die    Einrichtung  von    Arbeitsnachweisen    und   Arbeitsnachweis-Verbanden. 
Verhandlungen  der  ersten  deutschen  Arbeitsnachweis-Konferenz,  Karlsruhe,  1897, 
Berlin,  1898,  p.  42. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  623 

and  the  employer  is  supposed  to  fill  it  out  and  send  it  back.  The 
applicant  is  also  required  to  report  the  result  of  his  application 
to  the  bureau.  By  this  system  and  by  frequent  use  of  the 
post  the  bureau  seems  to  have  been  successful  in  keeping  track 
of  all  positions  filled.  Owing  to  the  German  system  of  police 
oversight,  and  particularly  to  the  compulsory  use  by  domes- 
tic servants  of  registration  books  in  which  their  places  and 
terms  of  service  are  all  noted,  less  time  is  devoted  to  looking 
up  references  than  in  similar  bureaus  in  the  United  States.  The 
name  of  an  applicant  is  kept  on  the  books  as  long  as  two 
months.  After  the  expiration  of  that  period  the  application 
must  be  renewed. 

Although  the  Munich  office  was  not  established  until  1895, 
it  has  served  as  a  model  for  most  of  the  later  offices,  much  as 
the  Ohio  agencies  have  in  this  country.  In  the  smaller  towns 
the  administration  is,  of  course,  much  more  simple  and  direct. 
The  development  of  the  separate  offices  had  not  proceeded  very 
far,  however,  before  the  need  was  felt  of  a  more  centralized 
system  by  means  of  which  the  various  offices  could  be  brought 
into  closer  touch  with  one  another.  The  matter  was  first  agi- 
tated by  the  Wurtemberg  government,  and  soon  after  by  Bava- 
ria, Baden,  Hesse,  and  Prussia ;  and  although  the  movement 
is  as  yet  only  in  the  experimental  stage,  it  has  been  fairly  well 
developed  in  these  states.  In  Baden,  for  instance,  reports  are 
sent  in  by  the  other  offices  to  the  Karlsruhe  office,  which  acts 
as  a  central  clearing  house,  sending  out  again  immediately  the 
reports  of  each  office  to  every  other  office.  Each  office  is 
then  in  a  position  to  send  applicants  to  fill  openings  in  other 
places  or  to  request  help  from  the  district  where  there  is  a  sur- 
plus. In  Wurtemberg  the  Stuttgart  office  acts  as  the  central 
agent,  sending  out  reports  of  all  vacancies  twice  a  week,  not 
only  to  all  the  other  employment  offices  but  to  every  town  of 
more  than  3000  inhabitants  and  to  all  institutions  which  main- 
tain employment  features.  In  Diisseldorf  a  slightly  different 
method  is  used.  Instead  of  letting  one  of  the  employment 
offices  act  as  clearing  house  for  the  others,  an  independent 
central  bureau  has  been  established,  whose  sole  duty  it  is  to 


624         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

act  as  agent  between  the  various  offices.  Some  sort  of  central- 
ized system  has  been  found  so  necessary  for  the  best  results 
that  a  closer  union  between  the  different  states  by  means  of 
the  establishment  of  an  imperial  central  bureau  has  been  advo- 
cated. While  such  a  move  is  very  unlikely  in  the  near  future, 
the  necessary  bond  of  union  has  been  created  by  the  formation 
(February  4,  1898)  of  the  Association  of  German  Employment 
Offices,  whose  first  meeting  was  held  in  Munich  in  September, 
1898.  Its  objects  are  the  creation  of  a  deeper  interest  in  the 
work  and  establishment  of  employment  offices,  and  the  collec- 
tion of  uniform  statistics.1  At  the  time  of  its  formation  sixty- 
eight  bureaus  were  enrolled  as  members,  of  which  thirty  were 
municipal,  eight  provincial,  and  the  rest  philanthropic  free 
institutions.  A  monthly  journal,  Der  Arbeitsmarkt,  has  also 
been  published  in  Berlin  by  Dr.  Jastrow,  who  seeks  to  tabulate 
and  utilize  these  statistics  to  determine  accurately  the  fluctua- 
tions of  the  labor  market. 

The  majority  of  the  public  employment  offices  in  Germany 
are  municipal ;  but  many  of  them  are  aided  by  the  state,  espe- 
cially in  south  Germany.  Frequently,  too,  grants  have  been 
made  by  state,  province,  or  municipality  to  employment  offices 
maintained  by  joint  boards  of  employers  and  employees,  while 
no  attempts  have  been  made  to  share  in  the  administration.  In 
fact,  like  so  many  of  the  German  social-reform  movements,  the 
initiative  and  support  for  this  one  seem  to  have  come  largely 
from  the  government. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  the  attitude  of  the  labor  unions  or 
their  members  is  towards  the  public  employment  offices,  as  opin- 
ions in  these  circles  are  widely  divided.2  Those  workingmen  who 
see  in  the  agencies  only  a  weapon  in  the  struggle  with  capital 
oppose  their  establishment,  as  they  fear  that  they  will  be  used 
to  their  disadvantage.  And,  in  fact,  the  tone  of  the  discussion 
in  the  Munich  Conference  on  the  subject  of  "  What  can  the 

1  The  stenographic  report  of  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  has  been  pub- 
lished  as  a  supplement  to   No.   1 1   of  Sociale  Praxis,   and   also   separately    as 
Schriften  des  Verbandes  deutscher  Arbeitsnachweise,  No.  I,  Berlin,  1899. 

2  Calwer,  loc,  cit.,  p.  7. 


PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT  OFFICES  625 

Employment  Bureaus  do  to  secure  Laborers  for  the  Agricul- 
tural Districts  ? "  seemed  to  lend  color  to  that  idea.1  On  the 
other  hand,  the  attitude  of  the  organized  employers  is  also 
largely  hostile  to  the  extension  of  the  public  offices.2  It  is 
only  fair  to  say,  however,  that  extreme  opposition  is  not  often 
shown  except  by  the  agrarian  members. 

One  of  the  most  disputed  points  and  one  which  was  most 
strongly  insisted  on  by  the  labor  unions  at  the  beginning  of  the 
movement  for  public  employment  offices  was  the  attitude  of 
the  office  during  a  strike.  The  unions  demanded  that  no  help 
should  be  furnished  to  an  establishment  or  industry  while  a 
strike  was  in  progress.  This  more  extreme  position  has  not 
been  strictly  adhered  to,  and  at  a  preliminary  conference  held 
at  Karlsruhe  in  1897  the  representatives  of  the  labor  unions 
declared  that  they  would  be  satisfied  to  have  the  offices  con- 
tinue their  activity  during  a  strike,  if  the  officials  would  only 
acquaint  all  applicants  with  the  fact  that  a  strike  was  in  prog- 
ress.3 Among  the  different  offices  the  practice  varies  in  this 
regard.  In  Stuttgart  the  office  continues  its  work  without 
interruption  ;  in  Strasburg  the  governing  commission  decides 
whether  to  stop  or  not;  the  same  is  true  of  Mainz,  Treves,  and 
a  number  of  other  cities  ;  Cologne  discontinues  the  work  of 
the  office  during  a  strike ;  in  Breslau  and  Frankfort  no  rules 
for  the  conduct  of  the  offices  at  such  a  time  have  been  for- 
mulated. It  may  safely  be  said  that  the  fear  on  this  point  was 
largely  groundless,  and  that  it  makes  no  practical  difference 
as  to  the  outcome  of  a  strike  whether  the  employment  office 
ceases  its  activities  or  not.  So  many  other  factors  enter  that 
the  existence  of  such  an  agency  and  its  attitude  can  have  very 
little  effect  one  way  or  the  other. 

In  spite  of  some  antagonisms  and  difficulties  at  first,  the 
German  free  public  employment  offices  have  met  with  decided 
success.  Their  number  has  grown  from  a  dozen  in  1894  to 
over  one  hundred  in  1899,  while  the  extent  of  their  activity 

1  Verhandlungen  der  Miinchener  Konferenz,  pp.  6  ff. 

2  Weigert,  loc.  cit.,  p.  33. 

8  Verhandlungen  der  Karlsruhe  Konferenz,  p.  69. 


626         TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  LABOR  PROBLEMS 

has  more  than  kept  pace  with  their  growth  in  numbers.  The 
positions  secured  for  applicants  numbered  about  190,000  in 
1896  in  all  the  "free"  bureaus,  while  by  1898  they  amounted 
to  over  25O,ooo.1  One  noticeable  fact  is  shown  by  the  statistics 
of  the  German  agencies,  which  points  to  a  high  degree  of  suc- 
cess, —  the  relatively  small  number  of  women  applicants.  Of  the 
men  for  whom  positions  were  secured  by  far  the  larger  part 
belonged,  of  course,  to  the  class  of  unskilled  labor ;  but  the 
more  skilled  trades  and  occupations  were  also  well  represented. 
It  will  at  once  be  seen  that,  though  the  movement  is  a  more 
recent  one,  it  has  proceeded  farther  in  Germany  than  in  the 
United  States,  and  has  met  with  a  much  greater  degree  of  suc- 
cess. Aside  from  the  undoubted  advantages  which  the  German 
offices  possess  in  the  concentration  of  the  population  and  the 
smallness  of  the  area  that  they  have  to  deal  with,  there  seems 
to  be  no  doubt  that  such  institutions  find  a  more  favorable 
reception  on  the  continent  of  Europe  than  in  this  country. 
The  differences  in  industrial  conditions,  indeed,  are  so  great 
that  probably  little  is  to  be  learned  from  German  experience 
which  will  materially  aid  us  in  the  United  States  in  solving 
the  problem  of  finding  work  for  the  unemployed  by  means  of 
free  employment  offices.  E  L 

1  Weigert,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  70-75;  Jastrow,  in  Arbeitsmarkt,  1898. 


INDEX 


Accident  Insurance,  546,  574. 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  36,  124, 

362. 
Apprentices,  80,  in,  214,  257,  266,  304, 

345- 

Arbitration,  I,  17,  90,  121. 

Arbitration,  Compulsory,  195. 

Assimilation.    See  Races. 

Australasian  Colonies,  195. 

Baldwin  Locomotive  Works,  304. 

Benefit  Systems,  394,  442,  527.  See 
Insurance. 

Benefits,  Union,  600. 

Blacklist,  181. 

Bonus  System,  45,  268,  294.  See  Com- 
missions, Premium  Plan. 

Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  12. 

Boycott,  170,  178. 

Brewery  Workers,  36. 

Building  Trades,  65,  87. 

Butcher  Workmen,  222. 

Child  Labor,  242,  345,  423,  501,  506. 

Cigar  Makers'  Benefit  System,  527. 

Civic  Federation,  7,  76. 

Closed  Shop,  12,  54,  73,  108,  244,  334, 
345'  3^5-  See-  Nonunionists,  Trade 
Agreements. 

Clothing  Manufacture,  316,  371. 

Commissions,  45,  48.  See  Bonus  Sys- 
tem, Premium  Plan. 

Competition,  Equalization  of,  7,  343. 

Contract  System,  274,  318.  See  Sweat- 
ing System. 

Courts,  Decisions  of,  156,  239,  268,  509. 

Dead  Line,  268.    See  Task  System. 

Debs  Case,  160. 

Decisions  of  Courts.    See  Courts. 


Division  of  Labor,  223,  324. 

Dues,  27,  30,  384. 

Earnings.    See  Wages. 

Education.    See  Child  Labor. 

Employers'  Associations,  72,  92,  294, 
619.  See  Trade  Agreements. 

Employers'  Liability,  546. 

Employment  Agencies,  603. 

Exclusive  Agreements,  38,  40,  57,  74, 
94.  See  Trade  Agreements. 

Factory  Legislation,  242,  428,  470,  509. 
See  Legislation,  State  Regulation  of 
Labor,  Courts. 

Factory  System,  322,  328,  371. 

Foreign  Competition,  464. 

Garment  Workers'  Union,  380. 

Graft,  41,  62,  68,  85.  See  Exclusive 
Agreements. 

Great  Britain,  289. 

Health  in  Occupations,  435,  503.  See 
Factory  Legislation,  State  Regula- 
tion of  Labor,  Courts. 

Hours  of  Labor,  42,  59,  232,  263,  320, 
451,  454,  482,  509.  See  State  Regu- 
lation of  Labor,  Courts,  Factory 
Legislation. 

Immigration.    See  Races. 

Incorporation  of  Trade  Unions,  137. 

Industrial  Unions,  33,  36,  222.  See 
Trade  Autonomy. 

Injunctions,  6f,  156.    See  Courts. 

Insurance,  378.  See  Unemployment, 
Accident  Insurance,  Employers'  Lia- 
bility, Benefit  Systems. 

Insurance,  Unemployment,  589. 

Joint  Councils,  65,  87,  223,  239. 

Jurisdiction,  78,  84,  108. 
627 


28         TRADE  UNIONISM   AND   LABOR  PROBLEMS 


I  egislation.    See   State    Regulation    of 

Labor. 

Linotype,  250,  449,  452. 
Local  Autonomy,  37,  365. 
Lockout,  1 02.     See  Strikes. 
Longshoremen,  i. 
Machinery,    no,    203,    250,    291,   454, 

489- 

Massachusetts,  Labor  Legislation,  482. 

Membership,  32. 

Mine  Workers,  1,13,  336,  459,  509. 

Minimum  Wage,  201,  207,  223,  236, 
240,  243,  278,  345. 

Negroes,  114,  349.     See  Races. 

New  Zealand,  195. 

Nonunionists,  30,  33,  53,  79,  109,  183, 
202,  239.  See  Closed  Shop. 

Out-of-Work  Benefit,  262.  See  Unem- 
ployment. 

Picketing,  163. 

Piecework,  5,  40,  211,  236,  241,  251, 
274,  294,  325,  381,  391,  413.  See 
Premium  Plan. 

Plumbers,  105. 

Politics,  119. 

Premium.  Plan,  274,  294.  See  Piece- 
work, Bonus  System. 

Printing  Trades,  289.  See  Typograph- 
ical Union,  Linotype. 

Promotions,  233. 

Public  Works,  Hours  of  Labor,  477. 

Races,  23,  241,  245,  317,  329,  336,  379, 
424,  491. 

Recognition  of  Union,  n.  See  Trade 
Agreements. 

Referendum,  18. 

Restriction  of  Output,  107,  227,  235, 
236,  238,  241,  268,  276,  289,  328,  451, 
455.  See  Premium  Plan,  Piecework, 
Health  in  Occupations. 

Sailors,  477. 

Shop  Rules,  203.  See  Machinery,  Re- 
striction of  Output. 


•Skilled  Labor,  349. 
Slaughtering  and  Meat  Packing,  222. 
Socialism,  335. 
Standard  of  Living,  333,  336,  506.     See 

Races. 
State  Regulation   of  Labor,   460,  470 

482,  509. 

Stock  Exchange,  143. 
Stove  Founders,  9. 
Strike  Benefits,  530. 
Strikes,   17,   20,  22,  25,  41,  53,  78,  90, 

97,  115,  248,  334,  346,  392. 
Suffrage,  367. 

Sunday  Work,  44. 

Sweating  System,  210,  316.  See  Con- 
tract System. 

Sympathetic  Strike,  41,  66,  in,  189. 
See  Strikes. 

Taff  Vale  Decision,  138,  144. 

Task  System,  268,  324.  See  Dead  Line, 
Premium  Plan. 

Teamsters,  36. 

Temperance,  442. 

Trade  Agreements,  i,  14,  31,  39,  55,  77, 

98,  154,  382.     See  Exclusive  Agree- 
ments. 

Trade  Autonomy,  37,  67.     See  Indus- 
trial Unions. 
Trade  Schools,  310. 
Typographical  Union,  12,  170,  250,  289, 

435- 
Unemployment,  229,  243,  244,  252,  262, 

375'  529»  589.  603. 
Union  Label,  374,  381. 
Union  Shop,  12.     See  Closed  Shop. 
Unskilled  Labor,  80,  243.     See  Races. 
Violence,  117,  163,  167.     See  Strikes. 
Wages,  40,  42,  47,  57,  63,  231,  265,  327, 

354.  376,396,  427,  461,  497- 
Walking  Delegate,  11/25,  65,  81,  89. 
Women  Workers,   210,   237,   238,   271, 

318,  326,  371,  396^23,  501,  522. 
Workmen's  Insurance,  546,  574. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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